Norovirus Transmission on an Airplane

Article

Transmission of norovirus on cruise ships is quite common, but Kirking HL, et al. (2010) report on possible transmission on an airplane. The researchers looked at the experiences of the members of a tour group who had diarrhea and vomiting throughout a flight from Boston to Los Angeles in 2008, resulting in an emergency diversion three hours after takeoff. An investigation was conducted to determine the cause of the outbreak, assess whether transmission occurred on the airplane, and describe risk factors for transmission.

Passengers and crew were contacted to obtain information about demographics, symptoms, locations on the airplane, and possible risk factors for transmission. Case patients were defined as passengers with vomiting or diarrhea (three loose stools in 24 hours) and were asked to submit stool samples for norovirus testing by realtime reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction.

The researchers discovered that 36 (88 percent) of 41 tour group members were interviewed, and 15 (41 percent) met the case definition (peak date of illness onset, 8 October 2008). Of 106 passengers who were not tour group members, 85 (80 percent) were interviewed, and 7 (8 percent) met the case definition after the flight (peak date of illness onset, 10 October 2008). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sitting in an aisle seat (adjusted relative risk, 11.0; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.4–84.9) and sitting near any tour group member (adjusted relative risk, 7.5; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.7–33.6) were associated with the development of illness. Norovirus genotype II was detected by reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction in stool samples from case patients in both groups.

The researchers concluded that despite the short duration, transmission of norovirus likely occurred during the flight. The study was published in the May issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Reference: Kirking HL, et al.  Likely transmission of norovirus on an airplane, October 2008. Clin Infect Dis. 2010;50:1216-1221.

Related Videos
An eye instrument holding an intraocular lens for cataract surgery. How to clean and sterilize it appropriately?   (Adobe Stock 417326809By Mohammed)
Christopher Reid, PhD  (Photo courtesy of Christopher Reid, PhD)
Paper with words antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and glasses.   (Adobe Stock 126570978 by Vitalii Vodolazskyi)
3D illustration: Candida auris   (Adobe Stock 635576411 By Niamh )
 MIS-C (Adobe Stock 350657530 by Bernard Chantal)
Set of white bottles with cleaning liquids on the white background. (Adobe Stock 6338071172112 by zolnierek)
Medical investigators going over data. (AdobeStock 589197902 by Wasan)
CDC logo is seen on a laptop. (Adobe Stock 428450603 by monticellllo)
Association for the Health Care Environment (Logo used with permission)
Related Content