SARS-CoV-2 transmission on international flights
From: Risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on international flights, a retrospective cohort study using national surveillance data in England
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-09052-2
This study provides evidence of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on international passenger flights and identifies factors associated with increased risk of secondary transmission.
The large absolute number of secondary cases observed during the study period indicate this may be an important route of transmission and public health interventions should be considered to help control this...
Secondary cases were more likely to be identified with increased number of index cases on a plane, particularly if these are symptomatic.
Vaccination was also a strong protective factor of in-flight transmission. These associations remain true after adjustment within the multivariable model for number of index cases, number of symptomatic cases, vaccination status, and age, and when accounting for clustering at flight level. Secondary cases were more likely to be found within two rows of an index case.
The findings are consistent with those reported in other studies.
