Airlines blocking travellers suspected of having swine flu

Jul 20 2009

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the H1N1 influenza A pandemic (swine flu) has killed around a total of 430 people and as health officials worldwide grapple to deal with rapid rise in the number of cases, airlines in Britain are blocking travellers suspected of having swine flu.

This week both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic announced they have instigated measures to turn back passengers showing symptoms - the move follows reports that eight British students, part of a group of 52 students and teachers quarantined in China, have been confirmed to have swine flu.

To date Britain is the worst-hit country in Europe with an estimated 55,000 new cases last week alone.

Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic say if any passenger raises concerns they have a 24-hour medical service they can call on - there have apparently already been a number of cases where passengers have been advised not to fly on the basis of their diagnosis or symptoms of H1N1.

Health authorities in Britain as elsewhere are advising people with symptoms to delay journeys if they are feeling unwell.

Virgin Atlantic says signs of something wrong, such as excessive sneezing or coughing, looking unwell, and a high temperature, will prompt airport staff to call in a medical team for advice and if that advice is that the passenger should not fly, the passenger will be asked to produce a fit to fly certificate from their doctor or a hospital, and they will be put on to the next available flight at no extra cost.

China, which has now had around 1,500 confirmed cases of the virus, has also launched aggressive measures to try and detect swine flu, including temperature checks on foreign flights into the country, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has stopped collating figures on the "unstoppable" pandemic.

The last bulletin released by the WHO on July 6th, had recorded 94,512 laboratory-confirmed cases in 136 countries and territories since April, including 429 deaths.

British authorities confirmed this week that 29 Britons infected with the H1N1 virus had died, with officials expecting up to a third of the population to fall ill - however in the vast majority of cases the symptoms are relatively mild.