Does airport screening for coronavirus work? The CDC program identified only one per 85,000 travelers

As an early effort to prevent the import of coronavirus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has established immigration at US airports designated for passengers from certain countries. However, studies by authorities have shown that temperature and symptom-based screening programs did not help detect Covid-19 cases. They were able to identify only one case for every 85,000 travelers screened. This suggests that immigration screening of passengers “consumes a lot of resources and yields low” in Covid-19 cases diagnosed in the laboratory. In addition, due to the lack of manual data collection, a significant percentage of screened travelers lacked contact information.

According to experts, such programs are not effective because the coronavirus has a variety of non-specific symptoms that are common to other infections and is often asymptomatic. “Symptom-based screening programs has no effect For nonspecific clinical symptoms and asymptomatic cases of Covid-19. Reducing Covid-19 imports will enhance communication with travelers to promote recommended precautions, enhance capacity to respond at ports of entry, and encourage pre-departure and post-arrival testing. I have migrated. Gathering contact information from international passengers prior to arrival facilitates timely management after arrival if necessary, “the author writes.

program

In January 2020, with the support of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CDC assessed and controlled the immigration risk of air passengers arriving from certain countries with widespread and persistent coronavirus infection. ) The program has started.

On January 17, immigration of air passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, which was the center of the coronavirus outbreak at the time, began at three US airports. Los Angeles International Airport, California. San Francisco International Airport, California. John F Kennedy International Airport, New York City.

Since February 3, immigration has been extended to all passengers arriving from mainland China after an executive order restricting entry to US citizens, legal permanent residents, and other exceptions. These travelers were routed to one of 11 designated airports. On March 2nd, travelers from Iran were added. As Europe becomes the new epicenter of the coronavirus, travelers from 26 countries in Europe’s Schengen area (effective March 14), the United Kingdom and Ireland (effective March 17) will be added and passengers will be routed. The number of airports has expanded. Screening was expanded to 15 designated airports when travelers from Brazil were added on May 28.

The aim was to reduce the import of coronavirus cases into the United States and delay the subsequent spread in the state. Screening aims to identify travelers with a Covid-19-like illness or who are known to be infected with the coronavirus and to isolate them from other travelers. Screening also informs all screened travelers of self-monitoring and other recommendations to prevent the spread of the disease and obtains contact information for sharing with public health authorities in the destination state. aims for.

What did the study find?

Between January 17th and September 13th, 766,044 travelers were screened, of which 298 (0.04%) met the criteria for public health assessment. This was because the traveler was in Hubei (16, 5.4%), reported contact with a Covid-19 person (4, 1.3%), or had signs or symptoms that triggered a public health assessment. (278, 93.3%). ..

Of the 278 people who had coronavirus-like symptoms, the most common signs or symptoms that triggered evaluation were cough (7.3%), self-reported fever (41%), and measured fever. They had (17%) and dyspnea (13%). According to researchers, 40 (14%) of these travelers were medically evaluated at a local medical facility and 35 (13%) were tested for Covid-19. Nine of the 35 tests returned a positive result, representing 0.001% of 1 in 85,000 of all screened travelers.

Fourteen additional travelers with the coronavirus confirmed in the laboratory were identified through other mechanisms, not as a direct result of immigration. Six detect sick travelers through an established process with airlines and airport partners and notify the CDC, and eight test positive in the United States or other countries prior to travel.

The agency initially relied on an existing federal traveler database to obtain passenger contact information to share with the state, but due to missing or inaccurate data, the agency manually went through the screening process. Added data collection. As a result of manually collecting the data, 98.1% of the complete records (phone number and address) were obtained. The CDC provided state health department contact information for approximately 68% of screened travelers.

“These findings indicate that airport temperature and symptom screening rarely detects cases of Covid-19 and requires significant resources. The reason for low yields may be multifactorial. High sex, low overall prevalence of Covid-19 in travelers, relatively long latency, symptoms of widespread illness, non-common to fever cases and other infections May contain specific symptoms, and asymptomatic. Infectious disease. Deny symptoms (for other reasons) or take steps to avoid detection of the disease. Potential travelers (for example, the use of cough medicine), “the team explains.

The CDC states that an effective public health program is characterized by a reassessment of the methods used in available evidence-based public health practices, resource-intensive, low-yield, symptom-based aviation. We recommended a transition from traveler screening. 14, the screening program has been cancelled.

The CDC currently recommends that all travelers follow recommendations regarding mask use, hand hygiene, self-monitoring of symptoms, and social distance during travel and after arrival in the United States. Travelers at high risk of exposure will take additional precautions, including post-arrival testing, avoiding contact with people at high risk of serious illness, and staying at home according to the recommendations or requirements of their local public health authorities. recommend to. Authorities have also strengthened public health response capabilities at ports of entry.

“Travelers’ pre-departure testing, ideally sampling within 72 hours before departure, can reduce the risk of coronavirus infection during travel. Post-arrival testing can be used for travel-related imports (transfers). Za) Protection from infection can shorten the post-travel self-quarantine period. Finally, understanding immune biomarkers and protection periods, developing one or more vaccines, and advances in testing are risk stratification. It has the potential to improve, optimize traveler management, and reduce Covid-19 infections and translocations associated with commercial air travel, “the author concludes. ..

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