Transmission of pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza on passenger aircraft: retrospective cohort study

Details

• Alternative Title:
  BMJ
• Personal Author:
  Baker, Michael G ; Thornley, Craig N ; Mills, Clair ; Roberts, Sally ; Perera, Shanika ; Peters, Julia ; Kelso, Anne ; Barr, Ian ; Wilson, Nick
• Description:
  To assess the risk of transmission of pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza (pandemic A/H1N1) from an infected high school group to other passengers on an airline flight and the effectiveness of screening and follow-up of exposed passengers.|Retrospective cohort investigation using a questionnaire administered to passengers and laboratory investigation of those with symptoms.|Auckland, New Zealand, with national and international follow-up of passengers.|Passengers seated in the rear section of a Boeing 747-400 long haul flight that arrived on 25 April 2009, including a group of 24 students and teachers and 97 (out of 102) other passengers in the same section of the plane who agreed to be interviewed.|Laboratory confirmed pandemic A/H1N1 infection in susceptible passengers within 3.2 days of arrival; sensitivity and specificity of influenza symptoms for confirmed infection; and completeness and timeliness of contact tracing.|Nine members of the school group were laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic A/H1N1 infection and had symptoms during the flight. Two other passengers developed confirmed pandemic A/H1N1 infection, 12 and 48 hours after the flight. They reported no other potential sources of infection. Their seating was within two rows of infected passengers, implying a risk of infection of about 3.5% for the 57 passengers in those rows. All but one of the confirmed pandemic A/H1N1 infected travellers reported cough, but more complex definitions of influenza cases had relatively low sensitivity. Rigorous follow-up by public health workers located 93% of passengers, but only 52% were contacted within 72 hours of arrival.|A low but measurable risk of transmission of pandemic A/H1N1 exists during modern commercial air travel. This risk is concentrated close to infected passengers with symptoms. Follow-up and screening of exposed passengers is slow and difficult once they have left the airport.
• Subjects:
  Aircraft Contact Tracing Disease Outbreaks Humans Influenza, Human Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype Questionnaires Retrospective Studies Risk Factors Self Disclosure
• Source:
  BMJ. 2010; 340.
• Pubmed ID:
  20495017
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC2874661
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  1 U01 CI000445-01/CI/NCPDCID CDC HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  New Zealand
• Volume:
  340
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:6f1a1dc84f6514c8cb6c2570f0c91811590cd16a9d64a5366b87c31a45138cef
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/22914/cdc_22914_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 146.61 KB ]