Should you fly if you have a cold?
Coughing and sniffling everywhere – you can tell: Autumn is here. This is particularly annoying for those who are about to fly. Because even if it’s not Corona, it can be better not to go on vacation at all.
Hospitals warn of corona-related overload
In view of the increasing number of corona infections, the German Hospital Society (DKG) has warned against overloading the clinics. The chairman of the board, Gerald Gass, stated that occupancy had increased by 50 percent compared to the previous week.
SNo matter how nice different seasons may be, the temperature change from warm to cooler and completely cold has its pitfalls. Everyone can tell from the coughing and sniffling everywhere: Autumn is here again. Anyone who gets a sore throat and a runny nose these days should first do a rapid corona test. After all, the symptoms of Covid disease and a cold are similar.
If the test is positive shortly before the planned departure, the discussion of whether to fly or stay at home is over. Five days of isolation after the first positive test are mandatory for Corona – until another quick test is negative. But what to do if it really is just a cold?
That depends on how long before departure the coughing and sniffling started. It is generally assumed that people are most contagious in the first two to three days after the onset of the symptoms. So if you have a bad cough, you should refrain from flying out of consideration for your fellow human beings, because it is a virus slingshot.
If you feel cold symptoms shortly before departure, you can easily start having doubts
Quelle: Getty Images/Westend61
“If this is not the case, people with a cold should check whether the pressure equalization is working,” advises travel expert Birgit Dreyer from Ergo Reiseversicherung. It is well known that the air pressure on board an airplane is different from that on Earth. Everyone feels it when the jet takes off or lands.
Swallowing, sucking on candy, or chewing gum usually helps to equalize the difference in pressure. Alternatively, you can hold your nose and mouth shut and exhale forcefully at the same time. Swallowing with your nose pinched works too. If it cracks, the pressure equalization was successful.
In the case of severely swollen mucous membranes or developing middle ear or sinus infections, equalizing the pressure is difficult or impossible. The sensitive ear system is now trying to respond to this challenge. Earache, tympanic effusion or even a ruptured eardrum can be the result and result in long-term damage to the inner ear. Not flying – as difficult as it is – is therefore pure self-protection.
The dry air when flying makes you cough
Passengers with coughs or bronchitis, on the other hand, struggle with the extremely dry air on board. The relative humidity of only 20 percent leads to constant coughing. The only way to get rid of it is to drink a lot or suck candy.
But first the good news: Normally there is no reason to postpone or even cancel the flight. However, wearing a mask voluntarily is very welcome: even if the emitted aerosols are harmless, they don’t necessarily have to land on the neighbor’s face.
The decision in the case of an infection with fever is different and really difficult. A doctor’s visit is then mandatory to rule out worse things like the flu. But fever always affects the body enormously. Heavy sweating and circulatory problems are often the result. In such a state, everyone belongs in bed, not on the plane.
Wait or cancel the holiday?
So if you start fighting a cold or cough shortly before your holiday, you will find yourself in a classic dilemma: wait or cancel the trip? Colds are sneaky and their course is not always foreseeable. Those who now call off everything will be annoyed when all signs of illness have disappeared after a day. But be careful – delayed colds can take revenge with severe courses including long-term consequences.
If you cancel a few days before the date, there are always high cancellation fees. A travel cancellation policy cushions the financial damage, but in case of doubt – wait for a cold or cancel the flight – the policyholder must decide alone. For this dilemma, insurers such as Allianz Travel, DEVK and Ergo now offer so-called cancellation advice.
These are advisory telephone calls with travel medicine specialists, who, according to ergo expert Dreyer, “prevent a hasty cancellation”. Based on a medical certificate or an existing diagnosis, the doctors make a recommendation. The advantage of this is that if the cancellation advice service recommends taking the holiday and if the insured person’s state of health deteriorates before the start of the trip, the insurance company will also pay the higher cancellation fees.