On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft

<p>Background</p><p>With over two billion airline passengers annually, in-flight transmission of infectious diseases is an important global health concern. Many instances of in-flight transmission have been documented, but the relative influence of the many factors (see below) affe...

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Main Authors: Vicki Stover Hertzberg, Howard Weiss
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2017-03-01
Series:Annals of Global Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/709
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author Vicki Stover Hertzberg
Howard Weiss
author_facet Vicki Stover Hertzberg
Howard Weiss
author_sort Vicki Stover Hertzberg
collection DOAJ
description <p>Background</p><p>With over two billion airline passengers annually, in-flight transmission of infectious diseases is an important global health concern. Many instances of in-flight transmission have been documented, but the relative influence of the many factors (see below) affecting in-flight transmission has not been quantified. Long-standing guidance by public health agencies is that the primary transmission risk associated with air travel for most respiratory infectious diseases is associated with sitting within two rows of an infectious passenger. The effect of proximity may be one of these factors.</p><p>Objective</p><p>The aim of this study was to determine the risk of infection within and beyond the 2-row rule given by public health guidance.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We searched the literature for reports of in-flight transmission of infection which included seat maps indicating where the infectious and infected passengers were seated.</p><p>Findings</p><p>There is a ∼ 6% risk to passengers seated within the 2-rows of infected individual(s) and there is ∼ 2% risk to passengers seated beyond 2-rows from the infectious individual.</p><p>Discussion</p><p>Contact tracing limited to passengers within 2-rows of the infectious individual(s) could fail to detect other cases of infections. This has important consequences for assessing the spread of infectious diseases.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Infection at a distance from the index case indicates other factors, such as airflow, movement of passenger/crew members, fomites and contacts between passengers in the departure gate before boarding, or after deplaning, are involved.
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spelling doaj.art-88afa0abbbbf4c04a0792e2a042aac792022-12-21T22:58:49ZengUbiquity PressAnnals of Global Health2214-99962017-03-0182581982310.1016/j.aogh.2016.06.003638On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on AircraftVicki Stover Hertzberg0Howard Weiss1Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GASchool of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA<p>Background</p><p>With over two billion airline passengers annually, in-flight transmission of infectious diseases is an important global health concern. Many instances of in-flight transmission have been documented, but the relative influence of the many factors (see below) affecting in-flight transmission has not been quantified. Long-standing guidance by public health agencies is that the primary transmission risk associated with air travel for most respiratory infectious diseases is associated with sitting within two rows of an infectious passenger. The effect of proximity may be one of these factors.</p><p>Objective</p><p>The aim of this study was to determine the risk of infection within and beyond the 2-row rule given by public health guidance.</p><p>Methods</p><p>We searched the literature for reports of in-flight transmission of infection which included seat maps indicating where the infectious and infected passengers were seated.</p><p>Findings</p><p>There is a ∼ 6% risk to passengers seated within the 2-rows of infected individual(s) and there is ∼ 2% risk to passengers seated beyond 2-rows from the infectious individual.</p><p>Discussion</p><p>Contact tracing limited to passengers within 2-rows of the infectious individual(s) could fail to detect other cases of infections. This has important consequences for assessing the spread of infectious diseases.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Infection at a distance from the index case indicates other factors, such as airflow, movement of passenger/crew members, fomites and contacts between passengers in the departure gate before boarding, or after deplaning, are involved.https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/709Airplane cabininfectious disease transmissiondisease riskSARSinfluenza
spellingShingle Vicki Stover Hertzberg
Howard Weiss
On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
Annals of Global Health
Airplane cabin
infectious disease transmission
disease risk
SARS
influenza
title On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
title_full On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
title_fullStr On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
title_full_unstemmed On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
title_short On the 2-Row Rule for Infectious Disease Transmission on Aircraft
title_sort on the 2 row rule for infectious disease transmission on aircraft
topic Airplane cabin
infectious disease transmission
disease risk
SARS
influenza
url https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/709
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