Aircraft serve as vital vectors in global public health due to their ability to traverse long distances and connect geographically distant regions. Airplane cabins present a unique environment for the potential transmission of infectious disease, as microorganisms can thrive on frequently touched surfaces within the cabin, creating hot-spots for microbial transmission among passengers during flights [1-4]. To address this concern, innovative strategies are required to control microbial transmission in airplane cabins. The ``Keimfreies Fliegen`` project brings together experts in microbiology, material science, engineering and flight experimentation from different institutes of the German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.). The project aims to develop multi-layered solutions to ensure a safe microbial presence in airplane cabins by integrating novel antimicrobial materials, consisting of nanoparticles with proven antimicrobial properties (e.g., ZnO, CuO, Ag, and chitosan) incorporated into biopolymers (Furolite-C, transfuran chemicals), into aircraft surfaces and by enabling self-sustained disinfection methods of cabin equipment to significantly reduce microbial load and thereby reduce the overall infection risk. 

References

[1] H. Weiss, V.S. Hertzberg, C. Dupont et al., Microbial Ecology, 2018, Vol. 77, 87–95.

[2] A. T. Pavia, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2007, Vol. 195, 621-622.

[3] M. T. La Duc, T. Stuecker, K. Venkateswaran, Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 2007, Vol. 53, 1259-1271.

[4] K. Leitmeyer, C. Adlhoch, Epidemiology, 2016, Vol. 27, 743-751.