HOUSTON — No matter how you travel this holiday season, you're going to be fighting crowds and germs. Lots of germs.
Let's start with air travel.
Research from Auburn University found the dirtiest places on a plane and just how long bacteria can survive in the cabin.
Forget about the guy or girl with the cough, it's everything else in the cabin that could get you sick. Things like armrests, window shades, tray tables, headrests and of course toilet handles. The study says touching any of those objects could get you MRSA or the E-coli gut bug.
Researchers used old parts of a Delta airplane for this study. They found MRSA could survive for 168 hours on a seatback pocket and e-coli thrived for 96 hours on the armrests.
Other experts found the headrest is actually dirtiest on the plane. Just think of all the hair and everything else people carry on their scalp.
Here's what experts suggest: Carry anti-bacterial wipes and clean everything yourself when you travel -- especially tray tables. Flight attendants say they've seen flyers change their babies' diapers on them.
And the airport isn't much cleaner either.
Researchers found a typical airport check-in kiosk had more than 253,000 colony forming units (CFU). That's nearly 15 hundred times more bacteria than the toilet seat at your house.
So here's the biggest tip of all. Experts say no matter what shower at home or at your hotel as soon as you can after a flight. The longer you've been traveling, the more germs you're probably packing with you.
If you think that's bad, traveling by car isn't much cleaner. A new study out by Expedia Travel found cars aren't as clean as you might think. They are haven for germs.
A survey of 1,000 drivers found 32 percent of drivers only wipe down the inside of their car once a year. Another 12 percent said they never do.
Experts found the average car has roughly 700 different strains of bacteria living inside it. The data suggests eating in the car is likely to make you more sick than eating off a toilet seat.
Here's where it gets even more gross.
The study found the average steering wheel has more bacteria per square centimeter - 629 CFU - than you might even want to know. That's six times dirtier than an average cell phone screen. Four times dirtier than a public toilet seat. And two times dirtier than the elevator buttons where you work.
The experts say it's a good idea to wipe everything down on a regular basis, especially cup holders and steering wheels. It's most important to wipe things down after every time you pump gas. The average gas pump handle has the most bacteria, more than 2.6 million CFU. That's 11,000 times dirtier than a public toilet seat.
So before you hit the road to grandma's this year, pack some sanitizer wipes and a lot of patience.
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