Fomite Transmission in Airports Based on Real Human Touch Behaviors

The public areas of airports are often bustling, raising the risk of infectious diseases spreading through fomites. We recorded 21.3 h of video at three airports, focusing on nine common areas (e.g., boarding and check-in areas) where people touch surfaces. We analyzed 25,925 touches to create a model for how microbes spread from surfaces to humans through touch. The airport mask-wearing rate is high (96.1% in non-restaurant areas), but it is lower (22%) in restaurants. Passengers touch their mucous membranes more often (10.3 times/hour) in restaurants compared to other areas (1.6 times/hour on average). Wearing a mask can significantly reduce the risk of obtaining a virus through direct contact with hands and mucous membranes. If everyone in non-restaurant areas wore masks, the viral intake fraction could be reduced by up to 97.4% compared to not wearing masks. People touch public surfaces the most in self-service check-in areas, at a rate of 473.5 times per hour. Disinfecting public surfaces or hands twice per hour could reduce the viral intake fraction in each area by 27.7% or 15.4%, respectively. The findings of this study provide valuable data support and a scientific foundation for implementing interventions aimed at mitigating fomite transmission within airport settings.

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