Microbes in Airplanes
Microorganisms that affect humans are all found in indoor environments. Since airplanes are such small places crammed with people bacteria is growing everywhere in the airplane cabins. The bacteria is not only transferred by direct contact but also airborne and droplets of human fluids. A single sneeze can travel at 100 mph and a 5 foot radius. The bacteria of a sneeze with travel up to 105 feet. In a plane there is not much room for a sneeze to spread so it is confined to a small space where it can reach more people as once. Microbes arising from environmental sources include bacteria, fungi and other organisms such as protozoa. It has been proven that the air can be sterilized ultraviolet germicidal irradiation.
This article did not really give reason or detail behind its information. I choose this article so that I could dissect it and understand what makes a article good and bad. So here it goes. The article had good information about the subject but it was organized very oddly. I felt like it jumped around from random stuff. What I mean by this is that there would be a topic and a little bit more into the article there was another piece of information about the topic. I hope to learn from this article how I can fix my writing skills and blog skills also.
This article really talks about how we can sterilize the air and to kill the germs they need to be cleaned thoroughly and quickly. This is interesting to me because from my understanding airplanes are not cleaned thoroughly at each stop so when they do isn't it just that much harder to kill all of the germs that have been building up? The article also talks a lot how ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and how it truly kills all of the bacteria living on all of the surfaces of the airplane. I feel like this should be used more in places that are full of bacteria that are hard to get rid of. this would prevent a lot of illnesses everywhere for everyone.
Elyse, this article sounds like it was an interesting topic but must have been really hard to understand if it kept jumping around. I think scientific articles are already hard to understand and it makes it harder if the article is poorly written. The subject that the author chose to write about interests me because I read an article about how fast bacteria can travel globally. It amazes me that in confined places like an airplane germs grow more rapidly. It seems that airplanes should be cleaned thoroughly at every stop. This concept of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation is new to me, I have never heard of it. At the waste water treatment plant they use UV light to sterilize the microbes, stopping them from reproducing. This seems like the same concept because we should try to rid of pathogenic microbes especially if they are on an airplane in confined space. This seems like the perfect environment for them to grow rapidly and we do not want to grow the pathogenic bacteria especially on a plane with lots of people that are all going different directions because then the bacteria will spread farther. This seems like interesting research and should be further conducted.
ReplyDeleteI am always interested to hear of microbes that “exist” in different areas and locations, especially confined areas. Like you said in your article, confined or small spaces allow bacteria and other microorganisms to spread more effectively which can target a wide range of people in that small area. I like how the article talks about how we can “sterilize the air” and kill the germs. A lot of articles I read talk about all the bacteria that is around us, but most don’t talk about how we can treat or keep ourselves save from harmful bacteria. I never really thought about how often they clean the planes. Like you said, if they are not cleaned thoroughly at each stop, it’s leaving the passengers and flight crew vulnerable to dangerous bacteria and other microorganisms that could be hard to get rid of if they are left to sit for a while. A question that comes to my mind about airplanes and microbes is; since airplanes travel from high elevations to low elevations, does this elevation change effect the microbes and if so, how does it effect them? Pretty interesting to think about, but it seems like this article brought up some pretty good information for discussions.
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To think that you have to fly in an airplane full of microbes is really disturbing. From articles that I have read, the blankets and pillows aren't even washed or replaced after a flight. They just seal them back up. That is really unsanitary and can cause major illnesses, especially in places where the plane is traveling to another country and the disease spreads. The UV light sounds like a nice way to sterilize planes after every flight, and this will help stop infections from spreading and make people feel cleaner and safer while traveling.
ReplyDeleteI did an article similar to this one and what i found really made me think about traveling in planes. Like you said sometimes they don't have time to clean and disinfect each plane at each spot. So if someone had a contagious virus from the previous flight, someone else can get it on the next flight. Its really interesting how one sick person could get hundreds sick and in different countries. I agree with you sanity should be a number one priority on airplanes. When i did my article i read that they would just use a disinfecting spray to kill the bacteria, but this uv light sounds good. i feel like it would have more of an effect, because bacteria can build immunes towards disinfectants. Is't uv light what they used at the Waste Water Treatment?
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