Health officials have considered banning passengers from flying in order to prevent the transmission of measles

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This year, there have been such discussions about eight people in five states, as the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

It was confirmed that all eight persons were infected, that they had a high probability of measles, or that they were not immunized against the highly contagious virus, and that they were suspected of being in close contact with a person with of measles, Caitlin, CDC spokesman Shockey told CNN.

She described the conversations as "prior discussions" and said the state and local health departments had contacted the CDC to tell her "we have people we may have to put on the list of products that do not contain sign".

The "Do not board" list is a tool that the federal government can use to prevent an infected person from flying when it is sick, said Dr. Martin Cetron, Director of the Migration and Disease Division. quarantine of the CDC.

This measure has been used since 2007 for patients with tuberculosis. In 2014, it was used twice for measles.

After attempting to dissuade a sick and contagious passenger from traveling on a plane, state health officials or local health authorities may contact the CDC to request assistance. The agency must then verify that attempts have been made to prevent the person from traveling and that the latter has flight reservations. The CDC then goes to the airline to ensure that the costs associated with the cancellation of the trip are accepted.

Then, the CDC works with the Department of Homeland Security to place the person on a public health checklist that does not require boarding, which tells the airline not to issue a boarding pass, explained Cetron. during an interview with CNN. Cetron said that it was a convincing option. "Ninety percent of the time, when we inform people of our choice, we want them to change their minds and we can tell the airline not to issue a card." 39, boarding, they change in opinion. "

In the cases that occurred this year because of measles, all individuals voluntarily decided not to travel without the CDC contacting them, said Shockey.

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States that have contacted the CDC on the possible need for this intervention are: California, which reported 47 cases of measles this year; Illinois, who reported eight cases of measles this year; Texas, who reported 15 cases; Washington, which reported 79 cases; and New York, which reported more than 630 cases.

"The New York Department of Health worked with two people who were not immunized against measles to prevent them from flying within 21 days of being exposed to the measles virus, while they might get sick," said Patrick Gallahue, spokesman for New York's Department of Mental Health and Hygiene said in an email. "No one was placed on the list of" boarding bans "during this outbreak and we worked with passengers to minimize the inconvenience of travel disruptions to protect the health of New Yorkers and others. travelers. People have been very cooperative. "

Warning passengers

Cetron also said that there had been a significant increase in the number of investigations due to passengers flying with measles, for example after someone had returned home after a trip and that the virus was diagnosed, but that it was contagious during his trip. The CDC works with the airline to inform passengers at risk of possible exposure. A person with measles is contagious for four days before developing the telltale symptom of a rash four days later.

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On average, there have been about 10 inquiries per year over the past ten years. However, in 2017, there were 15, in 2018, there were 81 and so far this year, there were 62 to 18. "You can project more than 200 or 240 [investigations] this year. It's a lot more people flying with measles, "said Cetron.He said that the increase in the number of investigations coincided with the increase in the number of measles cases. , the CDC reported 880 cases this year, the highest number of cases since the virus was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 and the highest number of cases in a year since 1994.

Of the 62 measles surveys conducted this year, 21 were for domestic flights, 14 were international inbound, 5 were outgoing IHR (outbound flights from the United States to another country reported to the CDC by a foreign agency) and 22 Shockey said that "the difference between the last two is that outgoing RSIs go from an American airport to a foreign airport. International RSIs are flights from an international airport to another international airport with an American resident on board. "

"The problem is that most of the time, when we do contact surveys, the window of time for measles is narrow … we hear about it after the fact, so [our] the ability to know the cases before their journey is infrequent, "said Cetron.

There has been a known secondary case of measles this year, which means that one passenger was infected while he was traveling from another infected traveler, Cetron told CNN. "We can not always say that it was the environment of the cabin for sure."

Cetron said the best way for anyone to protect themselves and others from measles while traveling or at any time is to get a MMR vaccine.

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