Why we get sick and how to stay healthy during cold and flu season. Here are some commonly asked questions and answers. Q. Can flying on an airplane make you sick? A. "Yes," says Bruce Polsky, chief of the division of infectious diseases at St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center, in New York City. "Especially if you’re sitting within six feet of someone who is sneezing, coughing, and spewing germs into the dry air ...