Can you catch meningitis on a plane?
Can you catch meningitis on a plane? Commercial aircraft are suitable environments for the spread of airborne pathogens, including N. meningitidis (2). A case of air-travel--associated meningococcal disease is defined as a patient who meets the case definition of meningococcal disease (3) within 14 days of travel on a flight of at least 8 hours duration.
Is there any risk of infection in flight?
The risk of transmission in the modern cabin environment is low for a number of reasons: passengers face the same direction, seatbacks act as barriers, air flow is from the top to bottom, and the air is also very clean.
What diseases are spread on planes?
Air transportation is a major vehicle for the rapid spread and dissemination of communicable diseases, and there have been a number of reported outbreaks of serious airborne diseases aboard commercial flights including tuberculosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome, influenza, smallpox, and measles, to name a few.