Viruses! They account for many neuropathies ..... explained and otherwise
still unknown! Just my little
pet theory.
*****************
March 11, 2001
THE NATION
And You Thought Germs in the Subway Were Bad
By JOE SHARKEY
Agence France-Presse
An airport worker spraying disinfectant in Hamburg, Germany, to prevent
foot-and-mouth disease from entering the country.
. Join a Discussion on Health in the News
As if chronic delays, rising fares and the looming threat of disruptive
labor disputes this spring and summer weren't enough, put-upon airline
travelers have been hearing more lately about another potential source of
dismay: the spread of infectious disease.
No one is saying airplanes are spreading plague and pestilence, or that the
days of grim Ellis Island-style health inspections could be returning. But
with more than 1.5 billion people traveling by air each year from every
corner of the earth, world health officials are increasingly concerned about
the ability of contagious diseases to hitch quick rides from continent to
continent. They are calling for better exchange of medical information among
international health and air industry officials and more efficient ways to
respond to crises, like requiring airlines to maintain better seating lists
so potentially exposed passengers can be notified months later when cases
arise.
Last week, airports from Japan to western Europe asked travelers arriving
from Britain to wipe their feet on disinfectant- doused mats. The reason was
fear that the arriving passengers could literally track in the virus
responsible for foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious ailment that is
decimating sheep, cattle and pig populations on British farms.
At American airports, longstanding precautions are being tightened. On
Thursday, the Department of Agriculture declared a "heightened alert" over
foot-and-mouth disease and said it had added 100 agents to its normal
contingent of 1,800 who monitor international arrivals. Accompanied by
baggage-sniffing dogs looking for prohibited foods, inspectors are asking
passengers from Britain and other countries where the disease is active
whether they visited a farm or rural area. Those suspected of carrying the
virus can be required to have shoes, clothing and possessions disinfected.
Foot-and-mouth disease is just one of a growing number of infectious
illnesses, some in the form of new drug-resistant strains, that can be
transported on airplanes, which in some cases resemble flying petri dishes
for disease incubation.
"A communicable disease occurring in one country can the next day find
itself transmitted to another, anywhere in the world," the World Health
Organization said in a statement last week announcing the opening next month
of a medical center in Lyon, France, where international medical and public
health specialists will be trained to better monitor outbreaks of cholera,
yellow fever, meningitis, hepatitis, Ebola and other diseases that can be
transmitted by air travelers. Over the last two decades, more than 30 new
communicable diseases have been identified, the organization said.
"This has been something that has concerned the public health service since
at least World War I, when international air travel started," said Victoria
Harden, a staff historian at the National Institutes of Health. The advent
of antibiotics like penicillin alleviated many worries about contagion after
World War II, she said. But in the last decade, with air travel reaching
into formerly isolated areas, health officials are increasingly worried
about widespread transmission of communicable diseases. In 1994, for
example, New York City health officials isolated 11 travelers from India who
had arrived with symptoms of bubonic plague.
LAST month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reminded health
authorities that four cases of highly contagious meningococcal disease were
identified last March among 15,000 Muslim pilgrims returning to the United
States from the annual hajj to Saudi Arabia, and to be on the lookout for
symptoms of the disease among returning pilgrims this year.
Next month, the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade
group, is sponsoring a conference for medical and travel experts called
"Cabin Health: Risks and Remedies." High up on the list of risks is
tuberculosis, which is epidemic in some parts of the world. "We have
investigated and documented occurrences of TB transmission during long air
travel" in the last few years, said Dr. Kenneth G. Castro, a tuberculosis
specialist at the C.D.C.
In one case, an airline crew member apparently transmitted the disease to
other crew members "who had spent multiple hours working together," Dr.
Castro said. Another case involved transmission by a woman to passengers
sitting near her on a long international flight.
While the possibility of contracting TB is small and isn't "something that
should obsess the potential traveler," Dr. Castro said, airlines and
physicians need to be better informed about those infected with TB who
travel by air, especially on flights of eight hours or more, when
transmission is most likely. Travelers with the AIDS virus are especially
vulnerable to TB infection.
"People are flying to places now where there is more TB, on planes where
they are spending longer periods of time in a closed environment," said Dr.
Scott Franzblau, a microbiologist and tuberculosis specialist at the
University of Illinois.
While in-flight air-filtration systems typically work well in combating many
airborne infections, Dr. Franzblau said, more flights are being delayed and
sit on the tarmac using auxiliary ventilation systems "that don't work so
well." For health reasons alone, he said, "Airlines should really try to
minimize ground time."
EVEN more than passengers, flight crews are exposed to potential contagion
by diseases as varied as chicken pox, influenza and hepatitis. Though
airlines voluntarily try to keep cabin air adequately filtered, "there
really are no minimum ventilation standards" mandated by law to flush out
contaminants, said Judith Murawski, an industrial hygienist with the
Association of Flight Attendants, a union that represents about 50,000
flight attendants at 27 airlines.
The union wants aircraft cabins to be covered by the Occupational Health and
Safety Administration to ensure stricter safety standards. Currently, the
Federal Aviation Administration has responsibility for cabin safety.
"They may be experts in aviation, but they're not experts in workplace
safety," Ms. Murawski said. "If the air quality is not good for the
passengers for the four hours that they're on board and they get off with a
headache, well sure, that stinks. But it's quite different for a person who
has to work in that environment all the time.`
My take on JanDrew's peripheral neuropathy