Behaviors, movements, and transmission of droplet-mediated respiratory diseases during transcontinental airline flights.

ABSTRACT: With over 3 billion airline passengers annually, the inflight transmission of infectious diseases is an important global health concern. Over a dozen cases of inflight transmission of serious infections have been documented, and air travel can serve as a conduit for the rapid spread of newly emerging infections and pandemics. Despite sensational media stories and anecdotes, the risks of transmission of respiratory viruses in an airplane cabin are unknown. Movements of passengers and crew may facilitate disease transmission. On 10 transcontinental US flights, we chronicled behaviors and movements of individuals in the economy cabin on single-aisle aircraft. We simulated transmission during flight based on these data. Our results indicate there is low probability of direct transmission to pa

SUBMITTER: Hertzberg VS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5889623 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature