Swine flu: Foolproof screening at airports not feasible

Pune: Mandatory screening of air passengers, disembarking at international airports, can only give a hundred per cent desired result of no travellers with flu like symptoms leaving the zone, said Dr Maya Tulpule, Secretary, Indian Medical Association.
“If one wants to have a 100 per cent result that no air passengers arriving at the terminals with flu like symptoms leave the premises, then the medical teams will have to screen and quarantine everybody, which is a cumbersome task,” reasoned Dr Tulpule, when asked if voluntary screening at international airports is a foolproof method to detect travellers with flu like symptoms.
Explaining further, the physician said a foolproof screening means quarantining every patient for eight days by keeping them under observation, which is not a logical solution to curb the spread of the virus.
Instead of that proper campaign and advisories issued to air travellers would be time saving and more resourceful as affected persons or individuals having the symptoms self report the case on arrival.
Apart from that Dr Tulpule said that individuals in window period or others who have self medicated during the flight for mild fever and carrying the symptoms will escape detection even if screened as the results would show normal. She also said that quarantining means to keep children under observation for 10 days and adults for eight days.
01/08/09 Sakaal Times

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Categories: Airports Aug 2009