Airlines take measures to prevent swine flu
Airlines are stowing pillows and blankets, and rolling out the
disinfectant wipes to discourage transmission of the swine flu virus,
all the while stressing planes are as “safe” as trains or schools.“The
role of aircraft in spreading infection from one part of the world to
the other is well established. The airplane is a vehicle for
transmission,” said William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at
Vanderbilt University medical school.“I’m not sure that the companies
can do very much. I think it’s a very difficult situation,” he said as
the swine flu, which first hit Mexico hard, continued to harm a travel
industry already hit by global economic woes.
More than 10 percent of flights between the United States and
neighboring Mexico have been cancelled since September 2008, according
to the Official Airline Guide.Given the possibility they will welcome
passengers who are feverish, coughing and contagious, airlines have no
desire to play doctor — but they are ready to stop a flight if
necessary.
“Airlines do have an obligation to report incidents of suspected
communicable diseases and airlines have the discretionary authority and
follow well established procedures to deny boarding if they come across
a medically unstable passenger with a serious communicable disease,”
said Victoria Day, spokeswoman for the Air Transportation Association.In
the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sets the
policy.
“Airlines are not medical experts, so we look to the CDC to provide
guidance,” Day said.Some months ago the CDC recommended that
“non-essential trips” to Mexico not be taken at that time, though they
were not banned.
“We are not in the business of diagnosing customers for illness,”
Southwest spokesman Paul Flaningan said.“Our crews are trained to
respond to sick or infirm customers at the gate and in flight. We have
access to medical personnel 24/7 to help us with customers who become
ill and need immediate medical attention. If someone exhibits signs of
illness before a flight, we will work with medical personnel to identify
the appropriate course of action,” he stressed.Some carriers such as
Southwest and Virgin America have dropped the use of blankets and
pillows, at least on daytime flights.“We’ve introduced antibacterial
hand wipes, antibacterial gel on planes and at airports for crew and
guest use,” said Virgin America spokeswoman Patrica Condon, whose
company also is offering masks for those who want them.
It is a precaution of moderate usefulness, experts say.
“The seats, and pillows and the blankets are really not very
important in transmitting influenza,” said Schaffner. And “the
usefulness of masks is not well determined.”
“It is really impossible to prevent the transmission a virus of the
respiratory tract, because you cannot identify who is infected,” he
stressed.
Schaffer noted that in Asia, authorities have tried to take the
temperature of people getting on planes to try to pick out people who
are sick and might have a fever; it was attempted with SARS and H1N1.
“That’s an interesting system, but it’s very imperfect. The machines
are not perfect,” Schaffner said.Airlines meanwhile stress that in-cabin
air quality is nothing to sneeze at.
“The air inside an airplane is completely exchanged with outside air
10 to 15 times per hour.
-AFP
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