Traveling over the holidays? You’ll have plenty of company, with about 38 million Americans expected to take air flights to visit family and friends for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

While it’s a great time to spread cheer, it’s also high time for the spread of influenza and winter colds. Health experts note your chances of catching a nasty virus increase dramatically if you're traveling this month, with airplanes and airports teaming with pathogens — not to mention holiday parties and get-togethers.

"We've seen an increase in influenza in December, January, and February in the past few years and holiday travel is probably a reason," notes Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, a board-certified family practitioner in Melbourne, Fla., and president of the Brevard County Medical Society. "With travel you’re more vulnerable to colds and flu."
 
But you can take steps to reduce your risks and make sure your holidays are happy and healthy.

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One option: Get a flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months of age and older get vaccinated. Up to 20 percent of U.S. residents get the flu, which can cause serious complications and death among seniors, children, and people with pre-existing health conditions.

Another: If you’re traveling by air, be aware that certain surfaces on plans and in airports are loaded with disease-causing germs. A recent analysis by Travelmath.com, which helps people calculate the driving and flying time between cities, found airports and planes tend to be dirtier than the average American home, in terms of germs.

The study also found that bathrooms have fewer germs than other areas you might not consider hotbeds of infectious pathogens. Tests showed the dirtiest places on most planes is the tray table — the surface most travelers touch as they eat and drink in-flight foods and beverages. Other hotbeds for bacterial, fungi, and viruses: overhead air vents and seat belt buckles, which harbor as many microbes as dirty lavatory flush buttons, the analysis showed.

In airports, the findings were comparable, with tests showing that drinking fountain buttons far more contaminated with germs than bathroom stall locks.

“Bathrooms were some of the cleaner surfaces tested, which may be contrary to conventional thought,” the researchers reported. “Regular cleaning schedules mean these surfaces are sanitized more frequently. This is a good thing.”

To reduce your risk of catching a cold, the flu, or something worse while on the road this holiday season, health experts recommend the following precautions:

• Pack and use sanitizer wipes to clean plane trays, bathroom surfaces, and anything else you touch. Keep your hands away from your face and eyes, to avoid spreading germs. Try not to touch the seat-back pocket in front of you or the arm rests.
• Ask to move your seat if someone near you is coughing or bring a mask you can wear if someone next to you appears sick.
• Open the air vent "gaspers" overhead, which improves circulation, and point the vents over your head so the air flows in front of your face to deflect any airborne viruses or bacteria.
• Try to sit near the front of the plane, where ventilation is best, and avoid aisle seats, which will put you in greater contact with potentially sick passengers.
• Boost your immune system by staying active, eating well, and getting plenty of rest in the days leading up to your travel.
• Wash your hands frequently, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. And avoid shaking hands with fellow passengers.
• Drink water or use a saline spray to keep nasal passages moist and hydrated. The air on planes can be dry, which hikes your risk of contracting a respiratory infection.
• Don't use courtesy airline pillows and blankets, which may be loaded with germs from previous fliers.
• If the plane's circulation is shut down during a ground delay, complain to the crew.

Dr. Haridopolos also advises limiting close contact with family and friends as much as possible over the holidays because this increases your risk of catching a cold or the flu. Limit hugs and kisses, if you're feeling under the weather, and take wash your hands frequently.

In addition, be on the lookout for signs of cold or flu — fever, body aches, chills, fatigue, sneezing, sinus congestion, sore throat, coughing headache, nausea, or diarrhea — and seek care and treatment. People who come down with the flu are infectious during the first seven days of the onset of symptoms; for children, it can even be longer — up to 21 days.

Finally, if you’re feeling sick, don’t travel at all — for your own good and the sake of fellow travelers, Dr. Haridopolos recommends. Some airlines will even waive the cost, if you cancel your flight because you're sick.