And the next time you’re in a doctor’s office or a hospital, take a look at the industrial hand sanitizer that the nurses use…it’s 71% alcohol. Why don’t they use Purell? simple, the alcohol concentration isn’t great enough to kill viruses…the *MINIMUM* alcohol content required it 65%. And the problem with most over the counter sanitizers is that the alcohol evaporates before the sanitizing has even begun! With 71% alcohol, a minimum of 15 seconds of full drenching is required…20 seconds is better…with the OTC 60-62% stuff, a full minute or more is required!
And then there is the possibility of destroying your own immune system by killing the beneficial bacteria on your hands…
Ed

I prefer to buy refundable tickets, but not at the prices available on most airlines. Southwest is an exception to this. I mostly buy refundable tickets on Southwest.

I would like to understand why Southwest is able to allow passengers to change tickets with no fee while applying the purchase price to the new ticket but other airlines cannot do this. I try to fly Southwest whenever possible because their rules are straight forward and their employees helpful. I don’t understand why other airlines are incapable of doing the same thing, that is providing decent customer service and reasonable fares with no add on fees or penalties. Are all other airlines poorly managed? It certainly seems so based on the behavior of other airlines! If other airlines behaved reasonably, then passengers could and should be expected to behave reasonably and with consideration for other passengers. I don’t know anyone who likes flying when they are sick. Rather than accept the status quo and blame the person who is sick, maybe examination of how ALL parties should behave would make for a better discussion.

Are you seriously saying that anyone who wants to change their ticket or cancel their trip, for any reason, should only have to call the airline and say they’re sick? The airlines already do that – they’re called ‘refundable tickets’. They cost more, for a reason. For me, I’d rather plan ahead and buy cheaper non-refundable tickets, and either purchase travel insurance or just accept the 1% risk of being unable to use them.

The efficacy experiments reported here reinforce what has been known for >50 years: 40% ethanol is a less effective bacterial antiseptic than 60% ethanol (6). Consumers should be alerted to check the alcohol concentration in hand sanitizers because substandard products may be marketed to the public

My Walgreen brand that is equal to Purell is 67%. Not sure where the claim above of needing 71% or the claim that they don’t work came from.

Not only is it reasonable, it ought to be expected.

This flu is different from others in that it affects different people. Regular flu still kills every year. This flu is killing children and pregnant women.

Guys, just stay home if you’re sick. If you’re sick, you’re not going to enjoy your vacation or be effective doing whatever business needs to be done. And if a pregnant woman or child gets sick and dies from catching flu from you on a plane…well some of us would find that a hard thing to have on your conscience.

It’s only money.

Who in their right mind would book a refundable fare on the off chance they’ll come down with the flu? The refundable ticket is 3x the nonrefundable one.

It’s not reasonable to expect airlines to take someone’s word that they’re sick and shouldn’t fly, with no penalty. If more than half the population will fly while sick to avoid a change fee, at least that same percentage will lie about being sick to avoid one. Every doctor I know is constantly writing notes for friends and relatives (because it’s easier than arguing with them about it), so I don’t really blame the airlines for not accepting a mere ‘doctor’s note’, either.