[ad_1]
As many countries have begun lifting flight restrictions despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have raised concerns about in-flight transmission. The aviation industry has claimed that flying during the pandemic is safer than traveling by bus and train or sitting in a restaurant or workplace. But two new international studies have provided stronger evidence suggesting that the coronavirus can be spread on airplanes, particularly on long flights.
One study is from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) of Vietnam that appears in the November 2020 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. It reported a cluster of COVID-19 cases among passengers on a 10-hour Vietnam Airlines commercial flight from London to Hanoi on March 2, 2020. All 217 passengers, crew members and their close contacts (anyone who had approached two meters for more than 15 minutes) were quarantined for two weeks. During this period, 16 people were found to be infected with the new coronavirus.
Twelve of them, including the only symptomatic person on board the flight, were business class seated passengers. The other four infected people were personal contacts who were very close to the infected passengers between the arrival of the flight and the quarantine period.
Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that there is a risk of transmission aboard SARS-CoV-2 during long flights. In fact, it has the potential to cause sizable COVID-19 clusters, even in business-class settings with spacious seating, they said.
They emphasized better infection prevention measures on board and arrival control procedures to make flying safe.
Air passengers tested positive for severe COVID-19 infection
Another study appearing in the same issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases identified four air travelers with severe acute respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 infection. They had flown on a 15-hour flight from Boston to Hong Kong on March 9, 2020. The study was conducted by scientists from a multinational group of institutions, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Hong Kong. . The four infected people – two passengers and two cabin crew members – were asymptomatic at the time of the flight, but then tested positive for Covid-19 between five and 11 days later.
The two passengers were a married couple who sat in the window seats in business class. Both developed symptoms in the days immediately after the flight. One of the two flight attendants who tested positive for COVID had served the couple during the flight. The researchers found that “the nearly complete viral genomes of the four patients were 100% identical”, proving that transmission occurred between the four patients.
Both studies strongly suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted on airplanes. According to a media report, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also identified nearly 11,000 people who were potentially exposed to the coronavirus on flights.
Using an antiseptic nasal spray can help limit the spread of the coronavirus
Meanwhile, a team of otolaryngologists has suggested that an antiseptic nasal spray containing povidone-iodine may help slow the transmission of the new coronavirus.
During test tube experiments, the team discovered that a povidone-iodine nasal spray, which is generally used to disinfect the inside of the nose before surgery, inactivates the virus in as little as 15 seconds. The findings were published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
However, they caution that routine use of povidone-iodine would not be safe for pregnant women and patients with thyroid conditions.
Posted: September 20, 2020 10:40 am | Updated: September 20, 2020 11:02 am
[ad_2]
