Letter: Common-sense solution for cold, flu season

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

In the face of all the recent attention paid to the bird flu and other seasonal diseases, perhaps it would be timely for the traveling public to take a hint from the Japanese. White surgical masks are a common sight on the streets -- in the subways, in airplanes and in other crowded public places in Japan, as well as in many other countries. Except in the USA.

Their philosophy is to protect others from your cold or other communicable disease, or to protect you from theirs. With this in mind, especially with the flu season at hand, wouldn't it be wise and logical for a world leader, such as we are, to adopt this practice?

As one example, I (and my wife) notice that every time we travel by air, we usually come down with a cold or worse after we return home. And we can usually tie it to a person who sat near us, coughing and sneezing all the way. And we also note that the air is recirculated in planes, and, further, only a minority of planes even bother to install HEP filters.

And who do we spread it to when we go to the grocery store, or to a restaurant? And, oh yes, what about the other 130 people who landed in Las Vegas on that plane? Would you agree that it's starting to sound like a really serious problem needing immediate attention?

One obvious remedy might be for those with colds or flu to wear a surgical mask as a courtesy when in public to avoid spreading it around -- especially when in confined spaces such as airplanes, grocery stores, restaurants or malls.

An even more effective and meaningful solution would be for airlines to provide these relatively inexpensive masks at each ticket counter, and at the entrance to each jetway.

This could become an effective method of disease control, as it has in many parts of the world.

Any takers?

Frank Musaraca

Henderson