Airports as super spreaders of all kinds of viruses are understudied, and if proper studies were done and publicised, this might help reduce global emissions as less people would fly. I beleive from personal experience and peopel I know that people catch the flu and covid at airports from airborne particles (peopel sneezing near me) . But the only studies that are ever publicised - and they are very few - are in connection with surface contamination in airports. There was one study on surfaces only done in the Finland's airport during their flu season in 2016/17 that found viruses were present on 10 percent of the surfaces examined, but plastic security trays were found to have the highest concentration of viruses. Of all the viruses examined, the rhinovirus — the culprit for the common cold — was the most widespread. The researchers also found the influenza A virus. A new study in 2024 has found that the highest number of colony-forming units of bacteria per square inch were found on those self-serve ticketing kiosks that are popping up in terminals around the country, including Los Angeles International Airport. Swab tests were conducted on the surfaces of three major airports and three airlines and calculated the bacteria or fungal cell counts for several surfaces. The website I am referring to declined to disclose the names of the airports and airlines that were tested. The highest germ counts in the planes were on the flush button on the toilets — 95,145 colony-forming units, followed by 11,595 CFUs on the tray tables and 1,116 CFUs on the seat buckles, according to the study. The typical kitchen counter measures 361 CFU, according to the National Science Foundation. The highest germ counts in the terminals were found on the screens of airport kiosks, 253,857 CFUs, followed by 21,630 CFUs on bench armrests and 19,181 on drinking fountain buttons, the study said. Nearly three years ago, a similar study said the buttons on the drinking fountains in airport terminals had the highest germ count. Since then, airlines including American, Southwest and United have added hundreds of new self-serve kiosks to speed up the check-in process. This idea is theat there should mbe more publicity around the viruses that people pick up at airports from both surfaces and airborne. that way, people might be a bit less likely to fly. Did you know more people willbe flying in 2024 than any previous year? Just when the world needs to moderate its foossil fuel consuming habits. So I suggest this idea as a nudge, not a rule that people fly less. Spread the virus , I mean news. Airports are crap places to be.