In-flight transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the attack rates and available data on the efficacy of face masks

doi:10.1093/jtm/taaa178

. 2020 Dec 23;27(8):taaa178.

doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa178.

In-flight transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the attack rates and available data on the efficacy of face masks

David O Freedman¹, Annelies Wilder-Smith^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
² Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
³ Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg, Seminarstraße 2, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

PMID: 32975554
PMCID: PMC7543400
DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa178

In-flight transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the attack rates and available data on the efficacy of face masks

David O Freedman et al. J Travel Med. 2020.

. 2020 Dec 23;27(8):taaa178.

doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa178.

Authors

David O Freedman¹, Annelies Wilder-Smith^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
² Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
³ Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg, Seminarstraße 2, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.

PMID: 32975554
PMCID: PMC7543400
DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa178

Abstract

The absence of large numbers of published in-flight transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 is not definitive evidence of safety. All peer-reviewed publications of flights with possible transmission are categorized by the quantity of transmission. Three mass transmission flights without masking are contrasted to 5 with strict masking and 58 cases with zero transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Cited by

Does 2x2 airplane passenger contact tracing for infectious respiratory pathogens work? A systematic review of the evidence.
Rafferty AC, Bofkin K, Hughes W, Souter S, Hosegood I, Hall RN, Furuya-Kanamori L, Liu B, Drane M, Regan T, Halder M, Kelaher C, Kirk MD. Rafferty AC, et al. PLoS One. 2023 Feb 2;18(2):e0264294. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264294. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 36730309 Free PMC article.
Face masks against COVID-19: Standards, efficacy, testing and decontamination methods.
Ju JTJ, Boisvert LN, Zuo YY. Ju JTJ, et al. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jun;292:102435. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102435. Epub 2021 Apr 29. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2021. PMID: 33971389 Free PMC article. Review.
HIV and COVID-19: Lessons From HIV and STI Harm Reduction Strategies.
Gravett RM, Marrazzo JM. Gravett RM, et al. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2021 Aug;18(4):261-270. doi: 10.1007/s11904-021-00562-1. Epub 2021 Jun 8. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2021. PMID: 34105091 Free PMC article. Review.
Simulation of aerosol transmission on a Boeing 737 airplane with intervention measures for COVID-19 mitigation.
Talaat K, Abuhegazy M, Mahfoze OA, Anderoglu O, Poroseva SV. Talaat K, et al. Phys Fluids (1994). 2021 Mar 1;33(3):033312. doi: 10.1063/5.0044720. Epub 2021 Mar 16. Phys Fluids (1994). 2021. PMID: 33897238 Free PMC article.
In-flight transmission of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and the outbreak potential of imported clusters of COVID-19: a review of published evidence.
Kelly D, Bambury N, Boland M. Kelly D, et al. Global Health. 2021 Aug 21;17(1):93. doi: 10.1186/s12992-021-00749-6. Global Health. 2021. PMID: 34419084 Free PMC article. Review.

See all "Cited by" articles

References

1. Olsen SJ, Chang HL, Cheung TY et al. Transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome on aircraft. N Engl J Med 2003; 349:2416–22. - PubMed
1. Speake H, Phillips A, Chong T et al. Flight-associated SARS-CoV-2 transmission from cruise ship passengers during a medium-haul Australian domestic flight supported by whole genome sequencing. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.203910. - DOI
1. Khanh NC, Thai PQ, Quach H-L et al. Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during long flight. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3299_article. - PubMed
1. Choi EM, Chu DKW, Cheng PKC et al. In-flight transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Emerg Infect Dis 2020; 21 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3254_article. - PMC - PubMed
1. Thompson HA, Imai N, Dighe A et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence on repatriation flights from Wuhan City, China. J Travel Med 2020. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa135. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Medical
- MedlinePlus Health Information
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

[1] Olsen SJ, Chang HL, Cheung TY et al. Transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome on aircraft. N Engl J Med 2003; 349:2416–22. - PubMed

[2] Olsen SJ, Chang HL, Cheung TY et al. Transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome on aircraft. N Engl J Med 2003; 349:2416–22. - PubMed

[3] Speake H, Phillips A, Chong T et al. Flight-associated SARS-CoV-2 transmission from cruise ship passengers during a medium-haul Australian domestic flight supported by whole genome sequencing. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.203910. - DOI

[4] Speake H, Phillips A, Chong T et al. Flight-associated SARS-CoV-2 transmission from cruise ship passengers during a medium-haul Australian domestic flight supported by whole genome sequencing. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.203910. - DOI

[5] Khanh NC, Thai PQ, Quach H-L et al. Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during long flight. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3299_article. - PubMed

[6] Khanh NC, Thai PQ, Quach H-L et al. Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during long flight. Emerg Infect Dis 2020. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3299_article. - PubMed

[7] Choi EM, Chu DKW, Cheng PKC et al. In-flight transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Emerg Infect Dis 2020; 21 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3254_article. - PMC - PubMed

[8] Choi EM, Chu DKW, Cheng PKC et al. In-flight transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Emerg Infect Dis 2020; 21 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3254_article. - PMC - PubMed

[9] Thompson HA, Imai N, Dighe A et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence on repatriation flights from Wuhan City, China. J Travel Med 2020. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa135. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Thompson HA, Imai N, Dighe A et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence on repatriation flights from Wuhan City, China. J Travel Med 2020. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa135. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

In-flight transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the attack rates and available data on the efficacy of face masks

Affiliations

In-flight transmission of SARS-CoV-2: a review of the attack rates and available data on the efficacy of face masks

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Similar articles

Cited by

References

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous

Abstract

Similar articles

Cited by

References

MeSH terms

Related information

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous