Notes from the Field: Multiple Cases of Measles After Exposure During Air Travel - Australia and New Zealand, January 2011

Tuesday, 24th of December 2013 Print
[source]Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)[|source]

Several countries have investigation guidelines for exposure to a single passenger with infectious measles aboard an aircraft. However, I know that air transport is not the most frequently used means of travel in this highly mobile world. Could it be time that we need to revise the control and investigation guidelines  for measles.

In this article, the authors document that spread of measles within an aircraft with a measles infection goes beyond the two rows recommended in the measles investigation guidelines for Australia. Now that there is need to review these  guidelines, I plea that the next version of guidelines should be enriched to include all modes of public travel namely, train/Tram, passenger ships or cruise liners, bus and air. More details technical details are available at:  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6025a4.htm

Abstract

In January 2011, measles was diagnosed in three New Zealand residents recently returned from a 17-day trip to Singapore and the Philippines. On January 11, they had flown on a 7.5-hour flight from Singapore to Brisbane, Australia, remained in a transit lounge for 9.5 hours, and then continued on a 4-hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Searches in Australia and New Zealand for secondary cases among passengers on either flight resulted in the identification of three cases among passengers on the Singapore-to-Brisbane flight and five cases among passengers on the Brisbane-to-Auckland flight.

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