Prevention and control of tuberculosis during air travel.

摘要

The potential transmission of tuberculosis infection on board aircraft reported first in the 1990s,1'2 the emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) as serious public health problems,3 and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 have raised considerable anxiety among travellers, public health authorities, airline companies and the media. A number of contact investigations has shown that transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis may occur, although rarely, during long (more than 8 h) flights from an infectious source (a traveller with infectious pulmonary tuberculosis) to other passengers sitting in proximity. However, as yet, no cases of active tuberculosis disease following exposure on board aircraft have been reported.