U.S., Asian airlines handle SARS differently By Chris Woodyard and Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY For hours, you're cooped up in a 17-inch-wide airplane seat among dozens of strangers. You share the same armrests, the same lavatories. Your fellow passengers may sneeze and wheeze into the air, only about half of which is pumped in fresh from the outside. The rest is recirculated through filters that may or may not block viruses. Sealed in this flying germ factory, what are the chances of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, from an infected passenger? "Fairly small, but not negligible," says David Brandling-Bennett, deputy director of the Washington office of the World Health Organization. The organization has advised international aviation officials that fewer than five individuals might have contracted SARS during a flight since the crisis began ? out of 200 million that have flown in that time ? says the International Air Transport Association, the trade group for world airlines. Still, health concerns abound. Whether travelers fear contracting the disease at their destination or on their journey, far fewer are flying to Asian cities where SARS poses the greatest threat. Travel warnings are in effect for some Asian destinations, including Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore. Until last week, Toronto was listed, too. Some airlines have lopped off dozens of flights a week from their schedules in the past month. Singapore Airlines has slashed 298 flights a week for May. It has stopped flights to Chicago and Las Vegas. Concerns are fanned by continuing discoveries about SARS as well as what remains uncertain. Health officials say SARS is most commonly spread through close person-to-person contact, such as touching objects contaminated by infectious droplets after a person with SARS sneezes or coughs. But the Centers for Disease Control says it does not know if a person who doesn't show symptoms of the disease can transmit it, perhaps from one connecting flight to the next. The WHO posted data on its Web site Sunday that say the SARS virus can survive at least two days on a plastic surface at room temperature. While bleach and other disinfectants are believed to kill the virus, products considered safe for use in airplane cabins have not been proved effective. Officials' best advice for travelers remains to wash hands frequently before they touch their eyes, nose or mouth. So far, these developments haven't raised alarms among U.S. airlines that fly to Asia. They say they are following CDC and WHO guidelines: · American, the largest U.S. airline, says it will clean with a germicide any area that an infected person touched. · United, the second largest, says it has special procedures in place, that it cleans jets daily and deep cleans them every 15 days. It would not elaborate. · Northwest, which flies extensively in Asia, gave employees a directive that says after a passenger suspected of having SARS leaves the plane, "normal cleaning procedures apply." "Deep cleaning/disinfecting of upholstered surfaces, seat cushions, etc., is not required," the April 23 directive reads. U.S. airlines that don't fly internationally aren't doing much out of the ordinary, if anything. "Nothing exceptional beyond our routine cleaning," says JetBlue Vice President Steve Predmore, who is in charge of safety. The airline, he points out, has no offshore service except to Puerto Rico and no marketing deals that connect flights with international airlines. Its larger discount rival, Southwest, hasn't changed anything either. "If the CDC lets us know there was something we needed to be doing differently, certainly we would," spokeswoman Beth Harbin says. The Federal Aviation Administration so far isn't pushing U.S. airlines to do more. "We've been relying on the CDC for just about everything," spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler says. "It seems to be an evolving situation." By contrast, Asian airlines are using new procedures. Examples: · Singapore Airlines disinfects planes twice ? once before they take off in Singapore and again during refueling ? before they land in Los Angeles. Crews wipe every hard surface, from galley tabletops to passengers' in-flight entertainment handsets. · China Southern, China's largest airline, dry cleans or launders blankets and pillowcases after every flight. · All Nippon Airways, a Japanese carrier, asks flight attendants to clean lavatories as much as they can after each passenger use. · Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong, says it thoroughly disinfects a plane if it is suspected that a SARS-infected passenger has flown on board. No single plan Some people in the travel business are troubled by the lack of consistency among airlines. "Each carrier has its own method" for cleaning planes, says Jack Riepe of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, which includes many big companies. "What we want is a uniform approach and uniform plan." Brandling-Bennett says sticking by standard procedures may be just as effective in stopping SARS. Soap and water is usually enough to remove the virus from hands or surfaces, he says. Another expert, William Schaffner, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical School, says, Planes have played at most a minor role in the actual transmission of SARS virus." Screening passengers for fevers at airports such as Hong Kong and Singapore has reduced the spread. "That's really not only going the extra mile, but the extra 10 miles," he says Different standards partly reflect the lack of alarm in the USA. Almost all SARS cases in the USA involve people who traveled outside the country, such as to Hong Kong or China. The WHO said last week there have been no cases of the virus having spread in the USA or Great Britain for 20 days and removed both nations from its list of affected SARS countries. The CDC counts only 56 probable cases in the USA of the more than 6,400 cases worldwide, and none of the 449 known deaths. Tests and studies continue, however. Health authorities still are testing the virus' ability to survive on different kinds of materials as well as the effectiveness of different disinfectants. Some products, such as bleach, are proven virus-killers but aren't recommended on airplanes because they could corrode an airplane's parts. Non-corrosive products haven't been proved effective in destroying the SARS virus. EcoTru, a disinfectant recently recommended for airplane use by Boeing, has attracted 30 airlines as customers, up from four, since the SARS scare began, says its manufacturer, EnviroSystems. Boeing says EcoTru won't damage its jets but doesn't say EcoTru will kill the SARS virus. Even if a plane could be effectively disinfected against SARS before it takes off, another uncertainty is whether the SARS virus can be carried through cabin ventilation systems. Boeing and Airbus, the world's leading makers of big passenger jets, say it can't. "These are the same type of filters used in hospitals," Boeing's Mary Jean Olsen says. "The coronavirus is the same as a cold virus. It's ... not anything that's going to escape the filtration system." Airlines point out the virus would most often be carried on droplets that would be caught by the air filters. Yet an environmental consultant in Paris who has worked with airline labor unions says tiny particles containing the SARS virus could slip past the best filters. "We don't want manufacturers to say they can stop viruses because we don't have a clue," says Jean Christophe Balouet. Fresh air For others, the SARS issue revives concerns about airlines' practice of recycling cabin air. It's cheaper, because outside air has to be compressed and heated through the engines before entering the cabin, says Farroll Kahn, director of the Aviation Health Institute, a non-profit passengers advocacy group based in Oxford, England. An all-fresh-air cabin would keep viruses from being recycled through the ventilation system. "It's a small savings, and they put our health at risk," Kahn says. Airlines should also be required to disinfect entire planes if they fly an infected passenger ? not just the area where they sat ? he says. Passengers are cautious. Consultant Mark Erzen of Detroit says he is "quite a bit more diligent" about washing his hands, but he thinks there's little risk of catching SARS on a plane. He's added mouthwash and vitamin C to his list of things to bring. Then there's that germ factory image. "I've always felt that being on a plane exposes you to more germs than you would otherwise be," says Seattle insurance executive John Elliott, who isn't taking any special precautions. "It's like being on a giant elevator with 200 people for several hours." Disinfecting planes - The Centers for Disease Control has issued guidelines to airlines for cleaning planes if they carried a passenger showing symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Cleaners should: Wash hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand gel. Wear non-sterile disposable gloves while cleaning the passenger cabin and lavatories. Discard the gloves when finished or if they become soiled or damaged. Never reuse them. Use an EPA-registered household germicide to wipe down frequently touched surfaces, such as armrests, seat backs, tray tables, light and air controls, adjacent walls and windows, and passenger lavatory surfaces, and allow them to air dry. The CDC says cleaners should not: Use a compressed air machine that might blow infectious materials back in the air. Use any special vacuuming procedures. Do any special cleaning of upholstery, carpets or storage compartments. That is not considered necessary. Web sites for more SARS information: www.cdc.gov www.who.int/en Contributing: Rita Rubin *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************