Want to avoid the flu while flying? Try a window seat

NEW YORK (AP) — Worried about catching a cold or the flu on an airplane? Get a window seat, and don't leave it until the flight is over.

That's what some experts have been saying for years, and it's perhaps the best advice coming out of a new attempt to determine the risks of catching germs on an airplane.

The new study sent squads of researchers onto commercial flights to look for viruses and observe how and when people came into close contact.

They concluded that people on the aisles get up the most and tend to be most likely to be near a person spewing infectious droplets of flu or cold virus. The study was funded by Boeing, the Chicago-based airplane manufacturer. It was published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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