Commuters should sleep on the train to beat swine flu threat

Dozing off on the Tube, train or bus could reduce the risk of illness by boosting the immune system.

Research shows that more than half of commuters are putting others at risk by travelling while sick.

Health experts say passengers are at risk of catching flu if they touch a surface that has been sneezed on by an infected person up to three hours earlier.

Swine flu has killed 50 people in the capital. Latest figures show about 184 patients are in London hospitals with the H1N1 virus.

Across the country 25 people died from the disease in the week ending on Thursday, bringing the number of fatalities to 270 since May. About 22,000 new cases emerged — compared with the previous week's 46,000.

Flu expert Dr Roger Henderson said the average sneeze travels at 90mph and throws out up to 100,000 droplets. Over half of all flu is caught by breathing in these droplets, which travel about three feet in a confined space.

The advice to sleep while commuting comes from a website, fluandyou.co.uk, which is also urging people to sneeze into their elbow rather than their hand to stop germs spreading.

A spokeswoman said a lack of sleep can reduce the number of white blood cells, which are responsible for the production of antibodies that fight disease. She said it also appears to alter the blood levels of important proteins, called cytokines, resulting in a greater than normal chance of infections.

She added: "In the morning rush-hour 1,500 people travel down the Canary Wharf Underground escalators every five minutes. If 10 per cent of these touch a handrail that has been sneezed over up to three hours earlier, or touched by someone who has sneezed into their hand, 150 commuters are potentially infected with the flu virus every five minutes."

The website is run by pharmaceutical firm Reckitt Benckiser.

* Almost one third of London's doctors and nurses have been vaccinated against swine flu. Figures published today show 47,720 of London's 150,000 front line NHS staff have had the jab in the month since it had been available. It comes after the Government and GPs failed to reach an agreement on the vaccine programme for under-fives, with health visitors and district nurses now set to be asked to step in.