Jo W, Pak C, Jegal Y, Seo KW. Boarding issue in a commercial flight for patients with cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2020; 8(3): 546-551 [PMID: 32110665 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i3.546]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kwang Won Seo, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, 877 Bangeojinsunwhan-doro, Dong-gu, Ulsan 44033, South Korea. kwseo@uuh.ulsan.kr
Research Domain of This Article
Infectious Diseases
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2020; 8(3): 546-551 Published online Feb 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i3.546
Boarding issue in a commercial flight for patients with cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis: A case report
Woori Jo, Chuiyong Pak, Yangjin Jegal, Kwang Won Seo
Woori Jo, Chuiyong Pak, Yangjin Jegal, Kwang Won Seo, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Ulsan 44033, South Korea
Author contributions: Seo KW was the patient’s physician, reviewed the literature, and contributed to manuscript drafting; Jo W reviewed the literature and contributed to manuscript drafting; Pak C analyzed and made the imaging files; Jegal Y performed the cavitary pulmonary tuberculous diseases consultation, reviewed the literature, and drafted the manuscript; all authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kwang Won Seo, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, 877 Bangeojinsunwhan-doro, Dong-gu, Ulsan 44033, South Korea. kwseo@uuh.ulsan.kr
Received: November 12, 2019 Peer-review started: November 12, 2019 First decision: December 23, 2019 Revised: January 9, 2020 Accepted: January 15, 2020 Article in press: January 15, 2020 Published online: February 6, 2020 Processing time: 85 Days and 20.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Several studies have demonstrated that airborne transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria from patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) to other passengers or crew members can occur during long flights. As such, non-infectious TB patients are usually allowed to undertake air travel after taking the appropriate anti-TB drugs. However, the global guidelines for air travel for patients with TB are inconsistent and insufficiently detailed with respect to cavitary pulmonary TB (CPTB).
CASE SUMMARY
Here, we report a case in which a patient with multiple CPTB was permitted air travel, following negative sputum acid-fast bacilli smear tests after administration of proper anti-TB medication. The patient’s culture results were pending.
CONCLUSION
This case revealed that more specific guidelines regulating air travel for patients with CPTB are necessary.
Core tip: Patients with cavitary pulmonary tuberculosis (CPTB) could have an active infection for longer periods than non-CPTB patients. Air travel may be inevitable for these patients, but the paucity of consistent guidelines regulating the protocol for permitting air travel for such patients renders decision making difficult. Based on this case, we think that if air travel is unavoidable for patients with CPTB who are still considered potentially infectious, it might be possible to board the flight if proper anti-TB medication is administered, confirmatory acid-fast bacilli smear tests are negative, and a suitable N95 mask is worn under observation.
