With flu season in full swing and the COVID-19 outbreak making the headlines daily, many people wonder: Is flying on an airplane going to make me sick?

Experts say maybe, but only if you are unlucky enough sit in close proximity to someone who is already sick.

Airline passengers usually worry most about germs in the air or on surfaces like tray tables or armrests. David Powell, a physician and medical advisor to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said neither of those should be cause for major concern.

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"The risk of catching a serious viral infection on an aircraft is low," Powell told Bloomberg News.

"Viruses and other microbes like to live on living surfaces like us. Just shaking hands with somebody will be a greater risk by far than some dry surface that has no biological material on it. The survival of viruses on surfaces isn’t great, so it’s believed that normal cleaning, and then the extra cleaning in the event that someone was discovered to be contagious, is the appropriate procedure."

(MORE: Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 1,000 Worldwide)

Airline ventilation systems are also really good at filtering out airborne germs, Powell and other experts say.

"The air supply to a modern airliner is very different from a movie theater or an office building," Powell told Bloomberg. "The air is a combination of fresh air and recirculated air, about half each. The recirculated air goes through filters of the exact same type that we use in surgical operating theaters. That supplied air is guaranteed to be 99.97% (or better) free of viruses and other particles."

More than 1,000 people had died from the novel coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, nearly all of them in China. The World Health Organization has officially named the virus COVID-19. The agency says the current risk to those in the United States is low.

Many major airlines have suspended flights to and from China in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Some international carriers still offering service have stopped providing meals, blankets and other amenities in order to limit contact between crew members and passengers, according to the Washington Post.

The flu season also often puts travelers on edge. Some 12,000 people are estimated to have died from the flu in the U.S. so far during the current flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection.

(MORE: 17 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Flu)

Where the potential danger lies on an airplane is in sitting close to a person who is coughing, sneezing or showing other signs of illness. The WHO has long advised that passengers seated within two rows of someone who is sick could catch the same illness. A 2018 paper from IATA reiterated that close quarters are the issue, more so than specifically being in an airplane.

"The overall risk of contracting a disease from an ill person onboard an airplane is similar to that in other confined areas with high occupant density, such as a bus, a subway, or movie theatre for a similar time of exposure … anywhere where a person is in close contact with others," the IATA paper said.

That's the situation Kathryn Payne-Olson, a writer who lives in the Washington D.C. area, found herself in when she boarded a Delta flight Feb. 3 from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Reagan National Airport. Olson didn't notice any extra precautions or concerns in the airport or among her fellow travelers.

"I was kind of looking around and wondering where people were coming from and if anyone was coming from China," Olson said.

She did note a few people wearing face masks in the Atlanta airport, and saw one on the plane – a man sitting in the same row as her, with an empty seat between them.

Olson told weather.com she has to be careful about germs because her teenage son is recovering from a bone marrow transplant due to leukemia, which limits his ability to fight infections. She asked the man with the face mask if he was sick, and he said he was not.

But his coughing throughout the flight put her on edge.

"When we landed and got up he said, 'I am just so glad to get back in the United States. I came from Japan,'" Olson recounted.

And that’s when the real fear hit her. Olson wasn’t feeling well a few days later, so she went to a local urgent care.

She handed the receptionist a note that said "I need to be tested for coronavirus."

Olson had no real reason to believe the man sitting next to her on the plane was infected with COVID-19, and she knew it was highly unlikely that she had it. But with her son’s health status, she wanted to be extra cautious. In the end, she was given a battery of tests and X-rays at a local emergency room and declared disease-free.

Olson had an aisle seat on the plane – usually the coveted spot for veteran flyers. But Vicki Hertzberg, director of the Center for Nursing Data Science at Emory University and author of a study on transmission of respiratory disease aboard airplanes, told the Washington Post the aisle is one of the worst places to sit because it's more exposed to other people and their germs.

"So the strategy I take now for flying is, I take a window seat, and I don’t get up," Hertzberg said.

The best way to avoid getting sick on an airplane, or anywhere for else for that matter, is to wash hands regularly and avoid touching your nose or mouth.

"Top of the list is frequent hand washing, hand sanitizing, or both," Powell told Bloomberg. "Avoid touching your face. If you cough or sneeze, it’s important to cover your face with a sleeve. Better yet, a tissue to be disposed of carefully, and then sanitizing the hands afterward. Washing your hands and drying them is the best procedure. When that’s not easy to do, alcohol-based sanitizer is a good second-best."

Flu Insights with Watson helps people better assess and prepare for their flu risk, up to 15 days in advance, down to their ZIP code. Check your local risk in The Weather Channel app.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.