Related Terms

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Background

• Air travel and cruise ship health involves protecting passengers and crew members during transportation, by minimizing the risks of disease and injury. Cruise vessels and airplanes follow specific guidelines and regulations to ensure safety and to prevent widespread illness; they are isolated communities with crowded accommodations, shared sanitary facilities, and common food and water supplies. Each of these conditions may promote the spread of disease. In addition, the publicity of disease outbreaks aboard a cruise ship may have a financial impact on the ship's owner and on those people who rely on the ship for transportation.
• Ships have a significant impact on public health beyond their role in ship-acquired infections. For example: Ships may carry passengers who are sick; onboard personnel and travelers may unintentionally transport or transmit infectious organisms to new hosts after reaching their destination; and vessels may carry infected rodents and insects between ports. In this capacity, ships act as a means of international disease transfer. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) in 1975 with the cruise vessel industry. VSP's goal is to assist the industry in developing and implementing complete sanitation programs to protect the health of both passengers and crew aboard cruise vessels
• Potential health risks are also associated with air travel. In-flight medical events are increasingly frequent because of the growing number of people with pre-existing medical conditions who continue to travel; potentially-affected passengers include those with cardiac, pulmonary, and blood-related conditions.
• Air travel also plays a key role in the spread of many pathogens. Federal air travel restrictions (known as the "Do Not Board Plan" or DNB) have been created to prevent the boarding of passengers with communicable diseases; these ill people may pose a risk to others. The DNB plan is controlled and managed by the CDC and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Under this plan, health care providers are required to contact their local health departments if they are treating patients who have serious, communicable diseases; this information is forwarded to the CDC, who may work with DHS to place the patients' names on the official DNB list for prohibited air travel within (or leaving) the United States.
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Technique

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Theory/Evidence

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Health Impact/Safety

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Future Research or Applications

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Author Information

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References

Natural Standard developed the above evidence-based information based on a thorough systematic review of the available scientific articles. For comprehensive information about alternative and complementary therapies on the professional level, go to www.naturalstandard.com. Selected references are listed below.

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