Incheon Airport National Quarantine Station, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KDCA), Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Department of Nursing Science, JEI University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 16;19(8):e0309044. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309044. eCollection 2024.
This study aimed to determine the possibility of COVID-19 transmission through in-flight contact during flights for many patients with confirmed COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore infection prevention and control (IPC) methods for overseas infectious diseases. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on flight with a large number of confirmed case among. Delhi- Incheon flights in 2020. This flight was selected to confirm transmission through close contact with the cabin, with a total of 14 confirmed cases out of 190 passengers (including 10 flight attendants). After confirming COVID-19 test results for those entering Korea, we conducted an epidemiological investigation on confirmed patients to determine their general characteristics and epidemiological relevance. We analyzed the epidemiological relevance, occupational information, incubation period, and COVID-19 variation and genotype among confirmed patients who were in close contact with confirmed cases, and analyzed the possibility of transmission according to the distance of close contact in the flight. One confirmed patient was found to be highly likely to be infected due to close contact with the cabin. However, it occurred within two rows, not within 1 meter. In addition, considering the aerodynamics in the cabin and local incidence rate, infection in an unspecified number of local people could not be excluded. It was analyzed that the reason for reducing infection from close contact on board for a long time in a flight with a large number of confirmed cases was the effective IPC method. In order to prevent overseas infectious diseases caused by flights, autonomous IPC management of airlines and passengers is necessary in addition to national quarantine management such as symptom screening before boarding, wearing passenger masks while boarding, food and beverage restrictions, disinfection of public spaces, distancing between passengers, close contact management after boarding, and self-quarantine.
本研究旨在确定在 COVID-19 大流行期间，有大量确诊 COVID-19 患者的航班上，通过飞行中接触传播 COVID-19 的可能性，并探讨海外传染病的感染预防和控制 (IPC) 方法。对 2020 年德里-仁川航班上的大量确诊病例进行了回顾性队列研究。选择该航班是为了确认通过与机舱的密切接触传播，在 190 名乘客中（包括 10 名机组人员）共有 14 例确诊病例。在确认进入韩国的人 COVID-19 检测结果后，我们对确诊患者进行了流行病学调查，以确定他们的一般特征和流行病学相关性。我们分析了与确诊病例密切接触的确诊患者的流行病学相关性、职业信息、潜伏期以及 COVID-19 的变异和基因型，并根据飞行中密切接触的距离分析了传播的可能性。一名确诊患者因与机舱的密切接触而高度可能被感染。然而，这发生在两排之内，而不是 1 米之内。此外，考虑到机舱内的空气动力学和当地发病率，不能排除当地不明数量的人感染的可能性。分析表明，在大量确诊病例的航班上，长时间进行机舱内密切接触感染减少的原因是有效的 IPC 方法。为了防止航班引发的海外传染病，除了登机前进行症状筛查、登机时佩戴乘客口罩、限制餐饮、公共空间消毒、乘客之间保持距离、登机后密切接触管理以及自我隔离等国家检疫管理外，航空公司和乘客还需要自主进行 IPC 管理。
