Airlines are the most common mode of international travel and each year, millions of people from all over the world board planes and enter into foreign countries, bringing with them different cultures, languages, and of course, different pathogens. While disease transmission can certainly occur when these travelers are off of their plane and walking among other people in open air, there are more risks involved with disease transmission on the actual airplane, a fact that is mostly due to the ventilation, air flow, and general air quality systems on broad flights.
Although there are many controls in place on nearly all airplanes that regulate air flow and quality issues, the close quarters between people, not to mention some vaccination guidelines in place for international travel, the air quality and temperature, and restrictive air flow all create a more favorable environment for diseases to be transmitted—more favorable than encountering the same pathogens following routine contact with disease-carriers in an open, public, non-flight environment. In order to accurately review all of the issues related to airline travel and the higher odds of disease transmission, several modes of transmission inherent to airline travel will be considered (vector-borne, airborne, contact-based forms in particular) and analyzed using unbiased data from a number of peer-review sources that examine how transmission of disease on airplanes is easier than in other settings. Finally, there will be an evidence-based discussion about how much greater these risks are and what can be done to mitigate these problems, if anything. While taking the approach of a review article, the final section of this piece will seek answers to the problem if one is stated to exist rather than to simply analyze a wide variety of recommendations.
PUBLICATION PARAMETERS
Tentative Title
The tentative working title for this article is “Clearing the Air: An Examination of Modes of Disease Transmission on Airlines and Instance Mitigation Recommendations”.
Type of Paper
This analysis will take the form of a review article and will investigate landmark research pieces that examine the modes of disease transmission on planes as well as those that evaluate how much greater the risk of disease transmission on planes is versus transmission in normal, non-flight situations. As a literature review and analysis, recommendations will thus be based on the quantitative data garnered from other previous research.
Target Publication
The target publication for this review article on infectious diseases and the increased risk of transmission during airline travel would be appropriate for the peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Environmental Health. This publication focuses on issues related to air quality, vector control, and institutional/occupational health standards and issues—all of which are directly aligned with this topic. Airline travel and increased risks of disease transmission is also appropriate for this publication because air quality is a major factor in nearly all debates about disease transmission during air travel. Furthermore, the journal is multidisciplinary in nature and considers standards implementation and ideas that might curb potentially harmful practices.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
Primary Audience
The primary audience for this article will be occupational and public health professionals who asses the value and function of existing environmental conditions and seek to create safer conditions for airline workers and the traveling public more generally.
Secondary Audience
There is a wide-ranging host of parties who might benefit from the material in this review article as the subject matter extends from the transportation industry to the public health sectors. Nurses, doctors, and family health providers can use this information to properly advise patients of potential risks of airline travel and how to prevent such risks. Transportation officials can use this information when they consult with airplane manufacturers who seek to design safer and more efficient vessels. Finally, the public at large comprises the secondary audience as this is an issue that pertains to most people directly.
SCOPE OF ARTICLE
Central Provocative Thought
The primary focus of this article will be to reveal the ways in which disease transmission becomes more possible in the closed confines of airplane and reveals the way the risks posed by proximity and vector circumstances can be mitigated. It reveals to the reader the “truth” about this controversial issue by presenting several research items and studies to form its assessments.
