機場安檢托盤可能比廁所還臟

LONDON — Airport security is there to protect you, but it may also give you the sniffles — or worse.

倫敦——機場安檢本來是用來保護(hù)你的，但它也可能會給你帶來鼻塞——或者更糟。

To all the places and surfaces we’ve been warned are teeming with germs or bacteria — your pets, the subway seat, airplane cabins, the A.T.M. — add the airport security tray.

我們一直被警告，很多地方和表面上都充滿了病菌或細(xì)菌——你的寵物、地鐵座位、機艙、ATM機——現(xiàn)在，再加上機場安檢托盤。

The plastic trays — used at airport checkpoints around the globe and touched by millions of passengers as they drop shoes, laptops, luggage and other items into them to clear X-ray scanners — have been found to harbor a variety of germs, including the ones responsible for the common cold, according to researchers in Europe.

歐洲研究人員表示，那些全球各地的機場安檢處都在使用的塑料托盤——數(shù)百萬乘客在將鞋子、筆記本電腦、行李和其他物品放入其中以接受X光掃描——已被發(fā)現(xiàn)藏有各種細(xì)菌，包括那些會導(dǎo)致感冒的細(xì)菌在內(nèi)。

Scientists from the University of Nottingham in England and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare swabbed frequently touched surfaces at Helsinki Airport in Finland during and after peak hours in the winter of 2016 and picked up traces of rhinovirus, the source of the common cold, and of the influenza A virus.

來自英格蘭諾丁漢大學(xué)(University of Nottingham)和芬蘭國家健康與福利研究所(Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare)的科學(xué)家在2016年冬季高峰時段和之后的時間，在芬蘭赫爾辛基機場被頻繁接觸過的表面取樣，收集到鼻病毒的痕跡，這是普通感冒和甲型流感病毒的病毒源頭。

They found traces on half the luggage trays, more than on any of the other surfaces they tested. None of these viruses were found on toilet surfaces at the airport, they said.

他們在一半的行李托盤上發(fā)現(xiàn)了病毒的痕跡，上面的病毒比他們測試過的任何其他表面都要多。他們說，在機場的廁所表面上沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)這些病毒。

The findings, published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases, could help improve public health strategies in the fight against the spread of infectious diseases worldwide.

這些發(fā)表在《BMC傳染病》(BMC Infectious Diseases)期刊上的研究結(jié)果可以幫助改善公共衛(wèi)生策略，以對抗全球傳染病的傳播。

The study could also help educate people on how the infections we try to avoid each winter spread, Jonathan Van-Tam, a professor of health protection at the University of Nottingham, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

諾丁漢大學(xué)衛(wèi)生保健教授喬納森·范-塔姆(Jonathan Van-Tam)周三在一份電子郵件聲明中表示，該研究還可以幫助人們了解冬季傳播的感染情況，而這樣的傳染是我們一直試圖避免的。

Many of the surfaces we touch on a daily basis harbor and can spread germs. These include mobile phones, kitchen sponges and even cute bathtub rubber ducks. But air travel is known to accelerate the worldwide spread of diseases such as the flu, released naturally, and potentially of others released intentionally.

我們每天接觸的許多表面都含有、并且會傳播細(xì)菌，包括手機，廚房海綿，甚至是可愛的浴缸橡皮鴨。但眾所周知，航空出行可以加速世界范圍內(nèi)流感等疾病的傳播，這些病毒是自然釋放的，也可能是其他人故意釋放的。

The European Union has funded a research project, called Pandhub, on preventing the spread of “high-threat” pathogens through public transportation, and the study by the University of Nottingham and Finnish institute is part of that project.

歐盟資助了一項名為“Pandhub”的研究項目，旨在防止“高威脅”病原體通過公共交通傳播，諾丁漢大學(xué)和芬蘭研究所的研究是該項目的一部分。

“The presence of microbes in the environment of an airport has not been investigated previously,” said Niina Ikonen, a virology expert at the Finnish institute, who was involved in the study.

芬蘭研究所病毒學(xué)專家尼娜·伊科寧(Niina Ikonen)參與了這項研究，她說：“以前沒有人調(diào)查過機場環(huán)境中的微生物。”

She added that the results provided new ideas for technical improvements in airport design and refurbishment.

她補充說，研究結(jié)果為機場設(shè)計和翻新的技術(shù)改進(jìn)提供了新的思路。

Finavia, the company that operates Helsinki Airport, said in an email: “At Finavia airports, the hygiene protocols are carried in accordance to health officials’ requirements — all surfaces are cleaned daily and all security check point trays, etc., are washed regularly.”

經(jīng)營赫爾辛基機場的公司Finavia在一封電子郵件中說表示：“在Finavia經(jīng)營的機場，衛(wèi)生標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是按照衛(wèi)生官員的要求實施的——所有表面都會每天清潔，所有安全檢查點的托盤等物品都會定期清洗。”

The results of the study did not prove that the viruses found can cause disease, the researchers’ statement said. But previous research had proved that microbes can survive on various surfaces for several days.

研究人員的聲明表示，研究結(jié)果并未證明發(fā)現(xiàn)的病毒可能導(dǎo)致疾病。但以前的研究已經(jīng)證明，微生物可以在不同的表面上存活數(shù)天。

Washing your hands properly and coughing into a handkerchief, tissue or sleeve, especially in public places, can help minimize the risk of contagion, Professor Van-Tam said.

范-塔姆教授說，以正確的方式洗手，對著手帕、紙巾或袖子咳嗽(特別是在公共場所)，可以幫助減少傳染風(fēng)險。

“These simple precautions can help prevent pandemics and are most important in crowded areas like airports that have a high volume of people traveling to and from many different parts of the world,” he added.

“這些簡單的預(yù)防措施可以幫助預(yù)防流行病，這在人群中多的地區(qū)最為重要，例如那些有大量人員往返世界各地的機場，”他補充說。