Is it harmful to put dirty luggage on the bed?

For your peace of mind, give your bag a quick disinfection or store it on a luggage rack. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK • It is unlikely that you come home from a trip and stand on top of your bed still wearing your shoes.

Why would you? Your shoes are covered in god-knows-what and your bed is a sacred space.

For some travellers, putting their suitcase on their bed is just as offensive.

The wheels of their luggage took the same soiled path as their shoes, rolling through airport bathrooms, pavements and public transportation.

To these travellers, the thought of plopping that suitcase atop the same place for sleeping is an affront to humanity.

But is it actually harmful to your health?

According to Ms Phyllis Kozarsky, an expert travel health consultant for the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's travellers' health branch, most public health professionals do not consider luggage a major transmitter of disease.

"We have not identified outbreaks related to dirty luggage," noted Ms Kozarsky who is also chief medical editor of the CDC reference guide Health Information For The International Traveller.

Where travellers may benefit from cleaning their luggage is if there is a suspicion that their hotel room has a bedbug infestation.

"Then they certainly would benefit by vacuuming out their luggage or cleaning it after they returned home," Ms Kozarsky said.

But otherwise, she added, the bag is "not typically a source of transmission of illness".

Even if your luggage touching your bed will not hurt you, you might still be plain old revolted.

After all, travel is a germ-addled experience.

"You have people carrying all types of different germs. Some of them are sick and you now have them populating these public travel places," said Ms Colleen Costello, chief executive of Vital Vio, a company that makes anti-bacterial LED lights.

Your fellow travellers have to touch all the same things you have to touch, from the security checkpoint to the plane, the train ticketing machine to the handrail in your train car.

"They have microscopic germs on them. And, realistically, (janitorial staff) may be getting to clean them rather infrequently," Ms Costello added of the many touch points involved in travel.

"Everything you bring into these public spaces can basically pick up or drop off different germs, and you can't see them. There's no way to really know when you or your personal belongings are exposed."

For your peace of mind, she recommends giving your bag a quick disinfection or storing it on a luggage rack.

Technically speaking, you could go beyond disinfecting your luggage wheels and sanitise the rest of your travel experience - the airplane tray table, entertainment screen, armrests, hotel room door and remote control.

But Ms Kozarsky does not vouch for that lifestyle.

"It's hard to keep up with every doorknob, every railing. Think of what you do between your home and your destination," she said.

"You can become a little neurotic that way."

People live in a germ-filled world.

Coming into contact with bacteria is part of life and trying to sanitise every travel accessory or surface they touch can turn into a Sisyphean task.

Instead, make sure you are washing your hands with soap and water after using the restroom and before you eat.

Carry hand sanitiser for the times you do not have access to soap and water.

Avoid touching your eyes and mouth as much as possible.

And remember: Dodging illness is not a perfect science. Getting a cold from time to time is human.

Happy year-end holidays.

WASHINGTON POST

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 09, 2019, with the headline Is it harmful to put dirty luggage on the bed?. Subscribe