Some aspects of flying just make you sick.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Ellen Creager

I always thought people who whined about getting sick on airplanes were just fussy hypochondriacs.

You know the type _ delicate sensibility, sickened by airplane food, worried about germs on airline pillows.

Personal air purifiers were invented for these worrywarts. So was antibacterial hand soap.

Apologies, apologies. The hypochondriacs were right.

My newfound respect comes from recent experience on a 12-hour, nonstop flight from Cairo to New York. Aboard the jet were at least 100 sick, coughing, sneezing, hacking Bangladeshi pilgrims returning from Mecca.

Four hours into the flight, the pilot ...