ACTE Issues Advisory Against Handshaking to Prevent H1N1 Spread

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) has released a recommendation to its global membership calling for the temporary suspension of handshaking "until the H1N1 influenza virus threat has been reduced to the status of the common cold."

According to a statement issued by ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley, temporarily eliminating the handshake from business travel may go a long way in reducing the person-to-person contact that spreads this variety of influenza.

"For years our mothers advised us to always cover our mouths and noses with a hand whenever we coughed and sneezed," said Gurley. "The public has since been told that a cough or sneeze that cannot be caught in a handkerchief should be directed into a cuff or sleeve. I find it highly unlikely that executives will risk soiling their business suits while on the way to an important business meeting, on the odd shot that they could be halting the spread of the H1N1 influenza germ. Catching the errant sneeze with one's hand is about as reflexive a motion as the sneeze itself...A random polling of ACTE members has revealed it would be easier to drop the traditional handshake, for the duration of the health crisis--should one develop--as opposed to sneezing or coughing into a sleeve."

Projections regarding the impact of the H1N1 swine influenza are all over the board, with experts citing 30,000 to 90,000 fatalities, and the potential of 1.8 million patients overwhelming hospitals within a six week period -- in the US alone. Published reports indicate that the H1N1 flu virus could easily infect 30 to 50 percent of the US population, causing massive disruptions in schools, business, and travel, as most companies will urge employees with flu-like symptoms to stay at home.