Plane Truth - Infectious Disease Exposure When Traveling
Andrew Speaker had things to do and places to go. He had a European honeymoon trip planned. He also had tuberculosis. And, not just the plain 'ol, garden variety tuberculosis that has been killing people for millennia...this was one of the new super-bugs. Mr. Speaker, an Atlanta personal injury attorney, had XDR TB - Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
Whether he fully grasped the public health consequences of his worldwide odyssey is debatable, but more than 600 people were exposed during his transatlantic flights and probably countless more on the ground in France, Eastern Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
Public Health officials started spin doctoring. "We told him not to travel."
"No, you said it was "not recommended" that I travel. I'm sorry." (Don't you just love attorney logic?)
Not since Typhoid Mary was put in prison in New York to keep her from working clandestinely in restaurants, has there been such public health uproar. While quarantine policies are in place, they are woefully antiquated, inadequate, and toothless. If we can keep one person from spreading his germs around the planet, how in the world are we going to deal with a major pandemic, like the bird flu? I can see it now. People dying right and left with bird flu. Entire communities quarantined...sort of.
Mr. Speaker flew into Canada and drove across the U.S. border in New York. Although his passport clearly was flagged, the border agent (now, former border agent) let him in. Oh, well, at least he wasn't carrying a dirty bomb. Yes, he was. There is nothing more "dirty" than a mindless person freely-sharing a drug-resistant organism.
I wonder where Mr. Speaker contracted his drug-resistant tuberculosis. Was it from one of his personal-injury clients or some stranger? I find it very interesting that Mr. Speaker's father-in-law, Robert Cooksey, is a research microbiologist for the CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination! I am definitely going to lose some sleep over that bizarre coincidence.
Some Centers for Disease Control experts are now saying that he was not "that contagious," although it is well-known that tuberculosis can be easily spread through the air, or by freshly-contaminated fomites, such as someone coughing on a surface. Apparently, Mr. Speaker was not hacking and spitting up bloody-phlegm, but I still would not want to share a seat with him or use the bathroom after him. Airline air filters (75% of planes have them now) or not, I would still not be a happy traveler if he were my seat-mate. An air filter is not going to stop an airborne loogie!
Mr. Speaker may actually be liable for any health-related injuries if one of those 600 contacts come down with his rare form of tuberculosis. Victims of disease, like herpes or HIV, have successfully sued their contacts in the past. Even if these potential victims do not develop a positive tuberculosis test over the next few months, they have been inconvenienced by having to be tested and certainly frightened. Statistically, exposure to in infectious disease, even this one, in no way implies that you will get it. Hopefully, all of these people will be fine.
Since 9/11, people have been carefully scrutinizing their fellow-travelers. In the past, all we were worried about was sitting next to an extremely obese person encroaching into our seat space, or someone that was overly-talkative, or hygiene-challenged. Sure, we have to eyeball anyone that looks suspicious, but now we are going to go crazy when someone is coughing.
Several years ago, one of my PA colleagues was exposed to drug-resistant tuberculosis by a patient in California's Central Valley. By the time it was determined this person had TB, the patient was sitting (and coughing) in a crowded waiting room for an hour. Infectious Disease: The Gift that Keeps on Giving.
Tuberculosis is not high on my fears, but as a medical provider who works in another of those "Dirty Places," I get a tuberculosis skin test every year. Fortunately, they have always been negative. It is not that I am germophobic, but I am very germ-o-conscious, especially when I have to fly. Airlines have definitely cut corners on the cleaning crew. All they do now is empty the (obvious) trash. They do not have time to disinfect those scary tray tables, and I serious doubt that the bathrooms are really disinfected between flights. I won't use those blankets or pillows, either. It is bad enough sitting in those cloth seats. I know that if I tried to fly with a Hazmat (hazardous material) suit, gloves, and an OR mask, I would be adversely profiled. However, I may get a seat by myself and will likely sail right through customs.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: TB, XDR TB, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, Andrew Speaker, travel, health and wellness
Whether he fully grasped the public health consequences of his worldwide odyssey is debatable, but more than 600 people were exposed during his transatlantic flights and probably countless more on the ground in France, Eastern Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
Public Health officials started spin doctoring. "We told him not to travel."
"No, you said it was "not recommended" that I travel. I'm sorry." (Don't you just love attorney logic?)
Not since Typhoid Mary was put in prison in New York to keep her from working clandestinely in restaurants, has there been such public health uproar. While quarantine policies are in place, they are woefully antiquated, inadequate, and toothless. If we can keep one person from spreading his germs around the planet, how in the world are we going to deal with a major pandemic, like the bird flu? I can see it now. People dying right and left with bird flu. Entire communities quarantined...sort of.
Mr. Speaker flew into Canada and drove across the U.S. border in New York. Although his passport clearly was flagged, the border agent (now, former border agent) let him in. Oh, well, at least he wasn't carrying a dirty bomb. Yes, he was. There is nothing more "dirty" than a mindless person freely-sharing a drug-resistant organism.
I wonder where Mr. Speaker contracted his drug-resistant tuberculosis. Was it from one of his personal-injury clients or some stranger? I find it very interesting that Mr. Speaker's father-in-law, Robert Cooksey, is a research microbiologist for the CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination! I am definitely going to lose some sleep over that bizarre coincidence.
Some Centers for Disease Control experts are now saying that he was not "that contagious," although it is well-known that tuberculosis can be easily spread through the air, or by freshly-contaminated fomites, such as someone coughing on a surface. Apparently, Mr. Speaker was not hacking and spitting up bloody-phlegm, but I still would not want to share a seat with him or use the bathroom after him. Airline air filters (75% of planes have them now) or not, I would still not be a happy traveler if he were my seat-mate. An air filter is not going to stop an airborne loogie!
Mr. Speaker may actually be liable for any health-related injuries if one of those 600 contacts come down with his rare form of tuberculosis. Victims of disease, like herpes or HIV, have successfully sued their contacts in the past. Even if these potential victims do not develop a positive tuberculosis test over the next few months, they have been inconvenienced by having to be tested and certainly frightened. Statistically, exposure to in infectious disease, even this one, in no way implies that you will get it. Hopefully, all of these people will be fine.
Since 9/11, people have been carefully scrutinizing their fellow-travelers. In the past, all we were worried about was sitting next to an extremely obese person encroaching into our seat space, or someone that was overly-talkative, or hygiene-challenged. Sure, we have to eyeball anyone that looks suspicious, but now we are going to go crazy when someone is coughing.
Several years ago, one of my PA colleagues was exposed to drug-resistant tuberculosis by a patient in California's Central Valley. By the time it was determined this person had TB, the patient was sitting (and coughing) in a crowded waiting room for an hour. Infectious Disease: The Gift that Keeps on Giving.
Tuberculosis is not high on my fears, but as a medical provider who works in another of those "Dirty Places," I get a tuberculosis skin test every year. Fortunately, they have always been negative. It is not that I am germophobic, but I am very germ-o-conscious, especially when I have to fly. Airlines have definitely cut corners on the cleaning crew. All they do now is empty the (obvious) trash. They do not have time to disinfect those scary tray tables, and I serious doubt that the bathrooms are really disinfected between flights. I won't use those blankets or pillows, either. It is bad enough sitting in those cloth seats. I know that if I tried to fly with a Hazmat (hazardous material) suit, gloves, and an OR mask, I would be adversely profiled. However, I may get a seat by myself and will likely sail right through customs.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: TB, XDR TB, extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, Andrew Speaker, travel, health and wellness
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