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Airplane travelers may be exposed to a variety of noxious respiratory pathogens, but few data are available on exactly what these organisms are. Researchers now offer some baseline descriptive data on which respiratory pathogens tend to travel by airplane.
During a 2-month period amid the international severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) scare in 2003, air passengers arriving in Germany from SARS-endemic areas with clinical symptoms compatible with SARS were screened with PCR assays against a variety of viral and bacterial pathogens. At least one pathogen was detected in 67 (43%) of 155 screened passengers, most between ages 19 and 60: Parainfluenza virus was identified in 24 (15%); influenza A or B in 22 (14%); adenovirus or coronaviru…