Epidemiology of Travel-associated Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Infection in 116 Patients, Singapore

During the containment phase, regions of exposure for imported infections changed rapidly. In June 2009, during Singapore’s pandemic influenza plan containment phase, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was introduced into the country through imported cases. To understand how travel patterns affected the initial o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2010-01, Vol.16 (1), p.21-26
Main Authors: Mukherjee, Pratik, Lim, Poh Lian, Chow, Angela, Barkham, Timothy, Seow, Eillyne, Win, Mar Kyaw, Chua, Arlene, Leo, Yee Sin, Chen, Mark I-Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airline passengers
Control
Demographic aspects
Disease transmission
Health aspects
influenza
Influenza A virus
pandemic
pandemic (H1N1) 2009
Prevention
Risk factors
Swine influenza
travel
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Summary:During the containment phase, regions of exposure for imported infections changed rapidly. In June 2009, during Singapore’s pandemic influenza plan containment phase, pandemic (H1N1) 2009 was introduced into the country through imported cases. To understand how travel patterns affected the initial outbreak, we examined epidemiologic and travel data for the first 116 case-patients admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, with travel-associated infection. Sixty-one percent and 54% of patients, respectively, met US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization temperature criteria for influenza-like illness. One fourth of the case-patients traveled after illness onset, and 15% became ill while traveling. Regions of exposure for imported infections changed rapidly; case-patients initially arrived from North America, followed by Australasia and Southeast Asia. Case-patients on longer flights were more likely to become ill before arrival; those with shorter flights tended to become ill after arrival. Thermal scanners detected fevers in 12% of the arriving case-patients, resulting in a shorter time to isolation.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1601.091376