International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review
Background: COVID-19 has proven to be challenging to manage for many reasons, including its high infection rate. One of the potential ways to limit its spread is by limiting international travel. The objective of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and summarise evidence on i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-11-01
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| Series: | New Microbes and New Infections |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2052297522001068 |
| _version_ | 1828087854124761088 |
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| author | Ameer S-J Hohlfeld Leila Abdullahi Ahmed M. Abou-Setta Mark E. Engel |
| author_facet | Ameer S-J Hohlfeld Leila Abdullahi Ahmed M. Abou-Setta Mark E. Engel |
| author_sort | Ameer S-J Hohlfeld |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: COVID-19 has proven to be challenging to manage for many reasons, including its high infection rate. One of the potential ways to limit its spread is by limiting international travel. The objective of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and summarise evidence on international air travel-related control measures for COVID-19. Methods: This review is based on the Cochrane review: International travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and followed the same methods. In brief, we searched for clinical and modelling studies in general health and COVID-19-specific bibliographic databases. The primary outcome categories were (i) cases avoided, (ii) a shift in epidemic development and, (iii) cases detected. Results: From 6,202 citations identified by the search strategy, we included 22 new studies (modelling = 9, observational = 13) in addition to the 62 studies identified in the Cochrane review. Studies suggest that quarantine or microbial detection or a combination may avoid further cases. Similarly, these interventions may produce a positive shift in epidemic development and case detection may improve. Most studies were evaluated as having a moderate to critical risk of bias. The studies did not change the main conclusions of the Cochrane review nor the quality of the evidence (very low certainty); however, they added to the evidence base for most outcomes. Conclusions: Weak evidence supports the use of international air travel-related control measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 via air travel. More real-world studies are required to support these conclusions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:18:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05a3a746ee654c5cb5ea3485dd1369b1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2052-2975 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T05:18:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Microbes and New Infections |
| spelling | doaj.art-05a3a746ee654c5cb5ea3485dd1369b12022-12-24T04:55:36ZengElsevierNew Microbes and New Infections2052-29752022-11-0149101054International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid reviewAmeer S-J Hohlfeld0Leila Abdullahi1Ahmed M. Abou-Setta2Mark E. Engel3Cochrane South African, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South AfricaSave the Children International, Somalia/Somaliland Country Office, Nairobi, KenyaGeorge & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Corresponding author. Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital Observatory, University of Cape Town Room J46-43, Old Main Building, South Africa.Background: COVID-19 has proven to be challenging to manage for many reasons, including its high infection rate. One of the potential ways to limit its spread is by limiting international travel. The objective of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and summarise evidence on international air travel-related control measures for COVID-19. Methods: This review is based on the Cochrane review: International travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and followed the same methods. In brief, we searched for clinical and modelling studies in general health and COVID-19-specific bibliographic databases. The primary outcome categories were (i) cases avoided, (ii) a shift in epidemic development and, (iii) cases detected. Results: From 6,202 citations identified by the search strategy, we included 22 new studies (modelling = 9, observational = 13) in addition to the 62 studies identified in the Cochrane review. Studies suggest that quarantine or microbial detection or a combination may avoid further cases. Similarly, these interventions may produce a positive shift in epidemic development and case detection may improve. Most studies were evaluated as having a moderate to critical risk of bias. The studies did not change the main conclusions of the Cochrane review nor the quality of the evidence (very low certainty); however, they added to the evidence base for most outcomes. Conclusions: Weak evidence supports the use of international air travel-related control measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 via air travel. More real-world studies are required to support these conclusions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2052297522001068Coronavirus disease 2019COVID-19SARS-CoV-2Air travelTransmissionSystematic review |
| spellingShingle | Ameer S-J Hohlfeld Leila Abdullahi Ahmed M. Abou-Setta Mark E. Engel International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review New Microbes and New Infections Coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Air travel Transmission Systematic review |
| title | International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review |
| title_full | International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review |
| title_fullStr | International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review |
| title_full_unstemmed | International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review |
| title_short | International air travel-related control measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic: A companion review to a Cochrane rapid review |
| title_sort | international air travel related control measures to contain the covid 19 pandemic a companion review to a cochrane rapid review |
| topic | Coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Air travel Transmission Systematic review |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2052297522001068 |
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