COME what may — cold, flu, norovirus — certain travelers manage to jet-set all over the world, attend the most crowded events, and rarely get sick. If you’re not one of the lucky few, there are still some ways to mitigate the negative health effects of frequent travel. Here’s what you need to know to stay well on your next getaway.

    Before your trip

    1. Strengthen your immune system. The scientific evidence on the powers of dietary supplements to prevent cold and flu isn’t yet conclusive, but it doesn’t hurt to take them if they’ve worked for you in the past, said Phyllis Kozarsky, M.D., the Centers for Disease Control’s travelers’ health consultant. A frequent traveler herself, she favors probiotics to boost gut health.

    2. Pack these items in your carry-on: Hand sanitizer with at least 50 percent alcohol; disinfecting wipes; a light shawl or coat that can be used as a blanket; a travel pillow (on a long-haul flight or train trip); bandages; and nasal spray.

    3. Wear glasses instead of contact lenses. Contact lenses can dry your eyes and make them vulnerable to microbial invaders. Wearing glasses also makes you less likely to touch or rub your eyes.

    At airports, train stations and other public spaces

    1. Stay at least six feet away from people who are coughing, sneezing, or who simply look sick. That’s the distance tiny virus-filled droplets can travel when exhaled by a flu-infected person — landing in your eyes or nose and ending up in your respiratory system.

    2. Sanitize hands after touching germy hot spots: For instance, the ticket kiosk, ATM, security-line bins, door handles, dining trays and tables, and anything in the bathroom.

    3. Treat public bathrooms as the germy cesspool they are. Do not put your bags on the floor, or your toiletry kit on the counter (if you must, then use disinfectant wipes afterward). Do your business without sitting on the toilet. Close the lid before flushing to minimize spray-back. Avoid touching surfaces with hands. Wash hands with soap and water for a full 15 seconds before you leave.

    4. Wear socks through the security line of an airport. The chances of getting a fungal infection are low — you need a damp floor for that to happen — but you may pick up something on your feet, which then gets transmitted onto your hands as you put your shoes back on.

    On a plane or train

    1. Prep your seating area. Flight crews have little time to disinfect between flights, so break out the wipes and tackle the backseat tray table and latch, armrests, headphones, digital screens, and window shutters. Cold and flu viruses can live a few hours to three days on inanimate surfaces. Norovirus is particularly hardy and can live up to four weeks. Trade the standard-issue blanket and pillow for your own.

    2. Point the overhead air vent down so the current flows vertically in front of your face. This helps divert potentially infectious droplets away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. If your nose feels dry, refresh with nasal spray — keeping the mucus membrane moist will increase its ability to fight infectious microbes.

    3. Use your hand sanitizer throughout the trip — particularly: after putting your luggage away (lots of people touch the handles); after you read the magazine in the back pocket; and after you get out of the bathroom. “The longer the flight the greater the number of infections that can be expected,” said Harunor Rashid, M.D., an epidemiologist with The National Center for Immunisation Research & Surveillance, in Sydney, Australia.

    4. Notify a staff person if you notice someone who is visibly ill. If possible he or she can move the passenger away from you (and others, depending on the situation), and if it’s a respiratory problem, they will provide a face mask. But it’s not just the person sitting next to the sick passenger that’s vulnerable to cold or flu viruses: The conventional wisdom is that the two rows in front and in back of the sick person are most vulnerable.

    Using ground

    transportation

    1. Find the least crowded spot possible on buses and subways. You’re not entirely in the clear when taking a cab if the driver is coughing, but you can open the window to help aerate the space.

    2. Take a seat. Seats are less contaminated than poles and straps.

    3. Sanitize your hands after leaving buses, subways, and taxis. (SD-Agencies)