We go to the phone lines for tonight's "Doctor On Call" question. This viewer wants to know if flying in a plane increases your chances of catching a cold or the flu.
We checked with an internist who says anytime you're in a crowd of people the risk for getting sick is increases, but on a plane, you're more likely to catch the flu than a cold. That's because the flu is spread when the virus gets into the air, so if someone on the plane has the flu and coughs or sneezes, the virus can spread through the air. Colds are spread by direct contact so if you touch your eyes or nose and then the cold virus gets on things you touch and that's how a cold spreads.
