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Air travel spreads infections globally, but health advice from inflight magazines can limit that

“Travel safe, travel far, travel wide, and travel often,” <a href="https://thoughtcatalog.com/matthew-kepnes/2014/01/53-travel-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-see-the-world/">says</a> <a href="https://www.nomadicmatt.com/">Nomadic Matt</a>, the American who quit his job to travel the world, write about it and coach others to do the same. But there’s a downside to all this travel, with its unprecedented volume of passengers moving from one side of the world to the other, largely by plane. There’s the risk of those passengers spreading infectious diseases and microorganisms resistant to multiple drugs (superbugs) around the world. Yet, our recently published <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893919301218">research</a> into health advice provided by inflight magazines shows plane passengers are given practically no advice on how to limit the spread of infectious diseases. Should we be worried about the part air travel plays in spreading infectious diseases? And what can we do about it? How big is the risk? Low airfares and a series of social and economic factors have made global air travel more common than ever. According to the Australian government department of infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development the <a href="https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/International_airline_activity_CY2018.pdf">number of passengers taking international scheduled flights in 2018 was 41.575 million</a>. But the International Air Transport Association projects passenger demand will <a href="https://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2019-02-27-02.aspx">reach 8.2 billion by 2037</a>. There are many examples of infectious diseases spread via international flying. The World Health Organization documented <a href="https://www.who.int/ith/mode_of_travel/tcd_aircraft/en/">transmission of tuberculosis</a> (TB) on board commercial aircraft during long-haul flights during the 1980s. Research published in 2011 documents the <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/7/10-1135_article">transmission of influenza</a> on two transcontinental international flights in May 2009. More recently, the current <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-people-born-between-1966-and-1994-are-at-greater-risk-of-measles-and-what-to-do-about-it-110167">global outbreak of measles</a> in many countries, including the Philippines and the United States, gave rise to the risk of transmission during international travel. In a recent case a <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/alerts/Pages/measles-alert-january.aspx">baby</a> too young to be vaccinated who had <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/measles-alert-after-infectious-baby-flew-from-manila-went-to-central-coast-20190603-p51tzs.html">measles</a> returned from Manilla in the Philippines to Sydney, exposing travellers on that flight to infection. Then there is the risk of transmitting antimicrobial-resistant organisms that cause disease, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-tb-and-am-i-at-risk-of-getting-it-in-australia-75290">multi-drug resistant TB</a>. Recently, patients in Victoria and New South Wales were identified as carrying the drug-resistant fungus <a href="https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/news-and-events/healthalerts/candida-auris-case-detected-in-victoria">Candida auris</a>, which they acquired overseas. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27890665">One study</a> estimates that over 300 million travellers visit high-risk areas, such as the western Pacific, Southeast Asia and Eastern Mediterranean, each year worldwide, and more than 20% return as new carriers of resistant organisms. These popular destinations, as well as the Middle East, have high rates of drug resistant organisms. How is this happening? Aircraft move large volumes of people around the world swiftly. But what sets them apart from buses and trains is that passengers are close together, in confined spaces, for a long time. This increases the risk of transmitting infections. Passengers interact with high-touch surfaces, such as tray tables, headsets, seats and handles. We cough, sneeze and touch multiple surfaces multiple times during a flight, with limited opportunities to clean our hands with soap and water. Many infections, such as gastroenteritis and diarrhoea, are spread and contracted by touch and contact. What can we do about it? Providing plane travellers with relevant health advice is one way to limit the spread of infectious diseases via air travel. This would include information and advice on routine hand washing with soap and water, or using alcohol-based hand rubs, and other basic measures including cough etiquette, such as coughing into your elbow and covering your nose and face. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/4/2/102/1847252">Researchers</a> have looked at the role commercial websites and travel agencies might play in providing that advice. And since the 1990s, airline magazines have been <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/4/2/102/1847252">highlighted</a> as an underused source of traveller health advice. More than 20 years on, we discovered little has changed. In our recent study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893919301218">Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease</a>, we looked at the content of inflight magazines from 103 airlines issued during January 2019. Of the 47 available online, only a quarter (11) included an official section on passengers’ general health and well-being, of which only two contained information related to infection control and the preventing infectious diseases. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284424/original/file-20190717-173366-w48bmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Inflight magazines have a potential audience of billions. So why not include advice on hand hygiene and coughing etiquette? <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1424594042?src=vUDfEziJwFDV7GZr5OYMRA-1-2&studio=1&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></figcaption></figure> The first magazine, from a UAE-based airline, had an official section on passenger health and well-being that included very limited relevant content. It advised passengers “with blood diseases or ear, nose and sinus infections should seek medical advice before flying”. There was no further explanation or information, nor were there any strategies to prevent these or other infections. The second magazine, from a USA-based airline, contained general travel health advice, but none specifically about infectious diseases. However there was a full-page, colour advertisement next to the health section. This contained images of many disease causing microorganisms on passengers’ tray tables and advocated the use of a disinfectant wipe for hands and other inflight surfaces. The slogan “because germs are frequent fliers” was displayed across the tray table. This was accompanied by information about the use and effectiveness of disinfectant wipes for hand hygiene and disinfecting surfaces during air travel, public transport use, and in hotels and restaurants. Inflight magazines are valuable assets for airlines and are the source of considerable advertising revenue. They are read by potentially billions of passengers every year. The results of this study show that they are a greatly underused source of information about infection control and measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Airlines should also provide health advice to passengers in other media, in particular video screens, about infection prevention and basic control measures such as hand hygiene, cough etiquette and personal hygiene. Such advice should be provided before, during and after the flight. It could also include destination-related advice for particularly risky travel routes and destinations. More information for passengers Airlines providing health advice to passengers is just one way to limit the spread of infectious diseases and antimicrobial-resistant organisms around the world via air travel. This would need to sit alongside other measures, such as <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/travel-industry-information-center">information and guidelines</a> provided to those who travel via the sea. The simple, low-cost measures highlighted in our research could go a long way to help passengers stay healthy and avoid illness from infectious diseases. At the same time, these measures could reduce the impact of outbreaks of infectious diseases for airlines and society as a whole.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120283/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Writen by Ramon Zenel Shaban and Cristina Sotomayor-Castillo. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-travel-spreads-infections-globally-but-health-advice-from-inflight-magazines-can-limit-that-120283" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Getty Images

International Travel

Dissecting Stevie Wonder’s Superstition, 50 years after we first heard its infectious grooves

On October 24 1972, Stevie Wonder released his 15th album Talking Book and the world heard the infectious grooves and seamless vocal delivery of the song Superstition for the very first time. Superstition reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 and on the soul singles chart. The song has been covered by an astounding number of artists, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbxmmFsofA4">Mel Torme</a>to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dNNl79_2Yc">Stevie Ray Vaughan and Macy Gray</a>, French musician <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzwiyeLvZwg">Tété</a> and a unique mashup from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QLSNwFBFyI">Pomplamoose</a>. Superstition is frequently played at gigs and gatherings all over the globe because the bass riff and driving drum groove have so much <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUIpSe7lcto">dance appeal</a> – a mix of the unexpected syncopation and repetition of the chorus hook. The song feels alive. <h2>A simple structure</h2> The listener can’t help but respond directly to the infectious opening groove played by Wonder. Three key instruments forge the captivating and carefully arranged funk groove in the introduction: the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavinet">Hohner Clavinet</a> (an electronic harpsichord – more on this later), drums and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moog_synthesizer">Moog bass</a>. The cohesion is musical magic. Superstition’s recording engineer Malcolm Cecil <a href="https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_D5482985134149A5927DED9849248EF">recalled</a> how Wonder recorded the entire song on drums first, with no reference other than the song in his head, then the keyboard bass part, and then the Clavinet. This illustrates how complete his conceptualisation of the song was prior to recording. The song’s structure is simple. The introduction sets up the familiar groove with its static harmony, pulsing bass and keyboard riff. The verse proceeds over the same static harmony, with a new bass riff introduced halfway through, effecting a shift to a higher dynamic level. The chorus releases the tension with a sophisticated cadence, reflecting jazz sensibilities and revealing the breadth of Wonder’s musical knowledge. This structure is repeated, followed by an instrumental version of the chorus. Then there’s a final verse and chorus before a long instrumental section built on the verse riff leads to the final fade out. <h2>Unexpected instruments</h2> One of the most memorable parts of the song is the signature played on the Hohner Clavinet. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7CY6aJtegc">Clavinet</a> looks like an electric keyboard, but it is an electro-mechanical string instrument originally developed for the performance of classical harpsichord and clavichord music. Like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond_organ">Hammond organ</a> of the 1930s, it was soon discovered and adopted by many contemporary musicians. Wonder had already used the instrument on I Was Made to Love Her (1967), Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day (1968) and I Don’t Know Why (1969). According to music journalist <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2722025-innervisions">Martin Horn</a>, Wonder wanted to use the Clavinet on Superstition to “full effect” to “show off”. Wonder had described the instrument as “funky, dirty, stinky”. In some ways, the Clavinet is doing the job a guitarist might normally do. It plays the single note riff at the core of Wonder’s song, and chord parts similar to what you would hear from a strummed guitar. But there are also several other barely audible tracks of clavinet, which subtly add to the texture. Superstition’s bass line is played on an analog synthesiser called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX0XPdmSfXI">TONTO</a> (The Original New Timbral Orchestra). This is an extraordinary collection of electronics which filled an entire room, adding to the song with a totally unique sonic palette – akin to a PVC pipe hit with a thong. <h2>Standing the test of time</h2> The contributions from the horn parts are also integral, played by Steve Madaio on trumpet and Trevor Lawrence on the tenor saxophone. The horns first appear playing in unison with the bass line in the second half of the verse, emphasising the lift in energy. They play long notes in the chorus emphasising the melody, then reinforce the rhythmic figure at the crest of resolution. Their part culminates in a powerful instrumental hook answering the vocal hook, “superstition ain’t the way”. These parts are repeated in the ensuing verses and choruses. After the final chorus the horns cycle through a sequence containing the verse riff, the chorus hook and a short passage of long notes adapted from the chorus melody. The melody of Superstition is very singable. Wonder’s delivery is fluid and highly expressive. He sings relatively short phrases, allowing the keyboard riffs to fill the space at the end of each phrase. It isn’t until the chorus that Wonder delivers the first effortless vocal lick on “suffer”. His vocal delivery remains understated, with occasional punctuated phrases, gravel tones and a scream within the horn part. The song ends with a long 50 second fade out, reinforcing the riff. Superstition and Wonder’s vocal delivery is so dependable, groovy and secure musically. The listener feels free to give themselves over fully, to trust Wonder completely and lose themselves for a moment. Superstition stands the test of time. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/dissecting-stevie-wonders-superstition-50-years-after-we-first-heard-its-infectious-grooves-189551" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

Delta variant more infectious than Wuhan strain, study finds

A new study from the UK has found that the Delta strain of COVID-19 is eight times less sensitive to vaccine antibodies than the original Wuhan strain. The study also found that changes to the spike protein in the Delta variant improved its ability to replicate and enter cells, in comparison to the Kappa variant. The authors say this might explain how the Delta strain has become the most dominant variation of the disease. The study, published in the journal <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03944-y" target="_blank">Nature</a>, compared the mutated Delta variant against the mutated Wuhan-1 variant which was used to develop the vaccines. The team, led by Ravindra Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, also analysed infections of 130 healthcare workers across three hospitals in Delhi, India, over six weeks. Though each of the workers studied had received both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the researchers found that the vaccine was less effective against the Delta variant than other variants. “By combining lab-based experiments and epidemiology of vaccine breakthrough infections, we’ve shown that the Delta variant is better at replicating and spreading than other commonly-observed variants,” Professor Gupta <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/spread-of-delta-sars-cov-2-variant-driven-by-combination-of-immune-escape-and-increased-infectivity" target="_blank">said</a>. Joint senior author Dr Patha Rakshit from the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, India, said: “The Delta variant has spread so widely to become the dominant variants worldwide because it is faster to spread and better at infecting individuals than most other variants we’ve seen. “It is also better at getting around existing immunity - either through previous exposure to the virus or vaccination - though the risk of moderate to severe disease is reduced in such cases.” Professor Anurag Agrawal from the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, India and joint senior author said the infection of healthcare workers with the Delta variant could have severe consequences. “Although they themselves may only exhibit mild COVID, they risk infecting individuals who have suboptimal immune responses to vaccination due to underlying health conditions - and these patients could then be at risk of severe disease,” Professor Agrawal said. With their findings, Gupta and his colleagues say we will need to develop strategies for boosting the effectiveness of vaccines against variants of COVID-19. “We urgently need to consider ways of boosting vaccine responses against variants among healthcare workers,” Professor Agrawal added. “[This research] also suggests infection control measures will need to continue in the post-vaccine era.”

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We’re seeing more casual COVID transmission. But is that because of the variant or better case tracking?

Victoria’s lockdown <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-02/new-covid-cases-recorded-in-victoria-lockdown-decision/100183416">is to be extended</a> for another week to get on top of the growing number of community cases, which now stands at 60. But questions remain about what’s behind some of these cases. Victoria’s COVID-19 testing commander Jeroen Weimar <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/health-authorities-concerned-over-victorias-strangertostranger-covid-local-transmission/7ad661c9-da7a-4555-a38a-c3d7606a5ebd">said yesterday</a> in about four or five cases, the virus was transmitted after only “fleeting contact”. Today, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-02/new-covid-cases-recorded-in-victoria-lockdown-decision/100183416">we heard from</a> Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton about <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/victoria-chief-health-officer-brett-sutton-concerning-suspicion-about-fleeting-transmission-c-2994447">one case suspected</a> to have been infected when visiting a site some two hours after an infectious person had left. The source case had been there for some time, and it was described as a poorly ventilated space. Nonetheless, this is consistent with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pressure-is-on-for-australia-to-accept-the-coronavirus-really-can-spread-in-the-air-we-breathe-160641">aerosol transmission</a> we have become increasingly concerned about, and perhaps this is the first documentation of this outside hotel quarantine. Today we also heard that health authorities have reported about 10% of cases are linked with more casual exposures, including at “tier two” sites (Victoria describes exposure sites according to risk, with a tier one site being the most risky). So is it the virus, or more focused efforts in tracking cases, that’s led us to finding such casual exposures? Is it the virus? Despite today’s news, people are not more likely now to get infected by brushing past someone on the street. In the vast majority of cases, people have become infected by very close contacts, or at certain “<a href="https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites">tier one</a>” exposure sites when there at the same time as a known case. There is <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-indian-variant-responsible-for-victorias-outbreak-and-how-effective-are-vaccines-against-it-161574">evidence</a> the variant associated with India is more infectious. This particular lineage of the Indian variant B.1.617.1, however, may not be as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-variants-genomically-confirmed-case-numbers/variants-distribution-of-cases-data">infectious</a> as other lineages. It reinforces how important it is that outbreaks are contained as early as possible where this increased risk of spread is still manageable. On average, with variants of concern like the one currently circulating in Victoria, a case might infect 15% of household contacts instead of 10% seen in 2020. When new case numbers are high later in an outbreak, this difference in transmission translates to much bigger jumps in case numbers. The way the virus spreads in clusters has also not changed, with some cases not passing the virus on, while a small number pass it on to many. If this strain of the virus were vastly more transmissible than the original strain, we’d expect to see many cases. This strain has been in our community for a month now, undetected and running free for more than two weeks. There would be many more than 60 cases if this were true. We’re also better at tracking cases The main thing that’s changed since Victoria’s second wave last year is that we have forensic analysis of every case and we’re better at finding casual links between cases. We’re now publishing lists of venues with exposure times and more people are coming forward for testing than at the peak of Victoria’s second wave. We also have check-in data for many venues. This results in more reliable measures of both the total spread and routes of virus transmission, than in the second wave, or any community outbreak of this size. Transmission associated with more casual exposures would have been much more likely to be missed before. Even if these cases were picked up, they might have been counted among the “mystery cases” that comprised 18% of all cases in 2020. We didn’t know where these cases were infected as there were no apparent links between them and known cases. We are doing much better this time with only three transmission events that not yet fully understood. How about this ‘fleeting contact’? The four or five cases Weimar mentioned yesterday relate to a range of indoor exposure sites including a display home, a Telstra shop, local grocery stores, and a shopping strip. This is where people may have been in direct contact with a case, but where no definitive exposure event is documented, there is no check-in and people don’t know each other. So from what we know so far, there’s been a crossover between when most cases were present and where their contacts became infected. And 90% of these are in the settings we know are high transmission risk — households and workplaces in particular, where there is extended and repeated indoor contact. The more casual contacts described yesterday, in a display home or at the Telstra shop, there might have been some overlap with a case in a small enclosed area for sufficient time to receive an infecting dose. A further example Sutton provided today was an infection that started with someone sitting in the same outdoor area as a case at a hotel bistro. We know there is less risk in outdoor settings generally, but on a still autumn day, we now know this is all it takes. Now, as we have transmission in the beer garden, all those nearby will be recategorised as primary close contacts and asked to quarantine for a full 14 days, even if they have returned a negative test. Better to be safe than sorry. That’s why it’s so important to check in with a QR code. You don’t always know the name of the person who’s standing (or sitting) next to you. It is also why check-ins will now be required at more retail and public venues across the state. Being able to identify contacts in these settings will remove some of the fear associate with this more casual spread. So what are we to make of this? This latest news reinforces the importance of QR codes and checking in. You never know who you’re standing next to in a long queue while shopping. Extending our QR codes into further settings whether retail, grocery stores or display homes, which we now know are a risk, is a good move. The message remains the same, get tested if you have symptoms or when directed to by public health officials, and isolate when necessary. In particular, keep an eye on those exposure sites, even if you only dropped in to grab a coffee. But we shouldn’t be overly concerned about COVID-19 spread by “fleeting contact”. The precautions we all know (hygiene, distancing and masks) still work and are our best forms of protection.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161979/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/catherine-bennett-1129281">Catherine Bennett</a>, Chair in Epidemiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/were-seeing-more-casual-covid-transmission-but-is-that-because-of-the-variant-or-better-case-tracking-161979" target="_blank">original article</a>.

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Man charged after "coughing" on co-workers and giving them COVID-19

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> A 40-year-old man from Majorca has been arrested on assault charges after allegedly infecting more than 22 people with coronavirus. The man refused to isolate himself at the requests of his colleagues and continued to work out at the gym while displaying COVID-19 symptoms. An investigation by police into the man's behaviour began at the end of January. "Days before the outbreak was revealed, the worker began to present symptoms compatible with the disease, so his colleagues began to worry as they observed that he was not well," a police statement said. Police allege that the man was "coughing loudly all over the place" and lowering his mask at work. "I'm going to give you all the coronavirus," the man allegedly said to his colleagues. The man was tested for coronavirus but decided to go to his gym and workplace instead of isolating, resulting in the infection of eight people. The people directly infected from the man, which were five at his workplace and three at the gym, then passed the disease onto their loved ones. This includes three babies being infected with COVID-19. "The worker was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of injuries and yesterday he was placed at the disposal of the Judicial Authority," the police said. None of the people infected by the man have been admitted to hospital. </div> </div> </div>

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Vic restrictions back after highly infectious new COVID case

Kmart, Coles and Bunnings outlets are among exposure sites flagged as "tier-1" after a hotel quarantine worker in Melbourne tested positive for COVID-19 as confirmed by Victoria's health department. Premier Daniel Andrews said the infected worker was a 26-year-old man from Melbourne's Noble Park and was working for the Australian Open quarantine program. In an urgent press conference last night, Andrews said: “We have to assume that this person has infected others” and urged residents to check the exposure sites to see if they've visited any of them. He also stressed the need for residents to get tested if they're showing symptoms "first thing tomorrow morning". He said more sites may be added to the list and at 1:30 am new exposure sites were added. He said the infected man had been “very cooperative” with health officials and had “given us great levels of detail”. “If people are sick and don’t get tested and go about their business, it’s a problem for all of us,” he said. “To go about your business when you’re sick, that puts everything at risk, for you, your family, for someone you’ll never meet. “Come and get tested if you’ve been at one of these sites, I can’t be any clearer than that, it is the most important thing to really take control of this.” According to Victoria's public health, the man last worked at the Grant Hyatt on 29 January and was tested at the end of their shift, returning a negative result. He began developing symptoms and was tested again on February 2. He returned a positive result on Wednesday. Health officials are in touch with Australian Open players, officials and support staff who were staying at the Grand Hyatt during the entire period. They are considered casual contacts and must immediately isolate and get tested. Hotel staff who were working at the same time as the individual are considered primary close contacts and will also be contacted. They must isolate for 14 days and get tested. EXPOSURE SITES Anyone who has visited these Tier 1 exposure sites during these times must immediately isolate, get a coronavirus (COVID-19) test, and remain isolated for 14 days. FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021 Exford Hotel: Melbourne 11:00 pm - 11:35pm Kebab Kingz: West Melbourne 11:24 pm - 12:15am SATURDAY JANUARY 30, 2021 Club Noble in Noble Park 46-56 Moodemere St Noble Park VIC 3174 14:36 – 15:30 Aces Sporting Club (Driving Range) Cnr Springvale Rd and Hutton Rd, Keysborough, VIC 3173 22:00 – 23:15 SUNDAY JANUARY 31, 2021 Northpoint cafe Brighton 2b North Road, Brighton VIC 3186 08:10 – 09:30 Kmart Keysborough Parkmore Keysborough Shopping Centre, C/317 Cheltenham Rd, Keysborough VIC 3173 16:00 – 17:00 Kmart Brandon Park Brandon Park Shopping Centre, Cnr Springvale & Ferntree Gully Rds, Brandon Park, VIC 3170 16:35 – 17:10 Coles Springvale 825 Dandenong Rd, Springvale VIC 3171 17:00 – 18:00 MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2021 Lululemon DFO Moorabbin 5:00 pm - 5:45pm Woolworths Springvale 6.30 pm – 7.30pm Nakama Workshop Clayton South 11.15 am – 12.00pm Sharetea Springvale 6.50 pm – 7.30pm Bunnings Springvale 849 Princes Hwy, Springvale VIC 3171 11:28 – 12:15 Melbourne Golf Academy 385 Centre Dandenong Rd, Heatherton VIC 3202

News

Highly infectious UK COVID strain touches down in WA and QLD

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> Greater Brisbane is undergoing a strict three-day lockdown after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive to the COVID-19 highly infectious UK strain. The woman developed symptoms on Wednesday and was tested, though health authorities believe that she has been infectious since the 2nd of January. “We know that this UK strain is highly infectious. It is 70 per cent more infectious and we are going to go hard and we are going to go early to do everything we can to stop the spread of this virus,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. “Greater Brisbane will be entering a 3-day lockdown. That will be Metro North, Metro South, West Moreton. “The areas that will be declared Greater Brisbane will be the council areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Moreton, and Redlands. “From 6 pm tonight, Friday, to 6 pm Monday all residents living in those areas will be required to stay at home.” Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young has advised that Queenslanders angry about the lockdown need to look to the UK for potential consequences. "We do have to be preventive because we know that the level of infection is very high in this particular variant. We have to act differently to what we had before. Any delay could see significant, if not catastrophic results," Dr Young told reporters. "We are now seeing this new UK variant spreading throughout the world, including Europe and the United States and now here in Australia. "If we waited until Monday afternoon, in three days' time, we don't want to be standing here saying – 'if only' because if we have, multiple cases, by that stage, it is highly likely that we would struggle to get it under control. We cannot take that risk." The UK strain is also in Western Australia, as a coronavirus patient is confirmed to have the highly contagious strain. She arrived in WA from the UK on Tuesday and went into hotel quarantine, but has since been taken to hospital. WA Premier Mark McGowan has assured WA residents there is no risk to the public despite the "flabbergasting" breaches of protection protocols. "We've seen outbreaks occur around Australia and around the world through staff who work in quarantine hotels and those sorts of facilities," Mr McGowan said. "We don't want to see that happen here." </div> </div> </div>

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What is a super spreader? An infectious disease expert explains

As the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dr-tom-frieden-former-cdc-director-latest-scientific-novel-frieden/">emerging Wuhan</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/coronavirus-5830">coronavirus outbreak</a> dominates the daily news, you might be wondering just how the pathogen is working its way around the world. This virus travels from place to place by infecting one person at a time. Some sick people might not spread the virus much further, but it looks like some people infected with the novel coronavirus are what epidemiologists call “super spreaders.” <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k4UBB88AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Elizabeth McGraw</a>, the director of the <a href="https://www.huck.psu.edu/institutes-and-centers/center-for-infectious-disease-dynamics">Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics</a> at Pennsylvania State University, explains just what that means and why super spreaders can be crucial to a disease’s transmission. What is a super spreader? Researchers currently estimate that a person carrying the Wuhan coronavirus will, on average, <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/news--wuhan-coronavirus/">infect approximately 2.6 people</a>. Recent reports out of Wuhan also cite a case of a single patient who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/health/wuhan-virus-super-spreader/index.html">infected 14 health care workers</a>. That qualifies him as a super spreader: someone who is responsible for infecting an especially large number of other people. During an emerging outbreak, epidemiologists want to determine whether super spreaders are part of the picture. Their existence can accelerate the rate of new infections or substantially expand the geographic distribution of the disease. In response to super spreaders, officials can recommend various ways to limit their impact and slow the spread of disease, depending on how the pathogen is transmitted. Pathogens transmitted via air droplets, contaminated surfaces, sexual contact, needles, food or drinking water will require different interventions. For example, the recommendation for face masks would be specific to airborne transmission, while hand-washing and surface sterilization are needed for germs that can live for a while on surfaces. What are the characteristics of a super spreader? Whether someone is a super spreader or not will depend on some combination of the pathogen and the patient’s biology and their environment or behavior at the given time. And in a society with so much global connectivity, the ability to move pathogens rapidly across great distances, often before people are even aware they are sick, helps create environments ripe for super spreading. Some infected individuals might shed more virus into the environment than others because of how their immune system works. Highly tolerant people do not feel sick and so may continue about their daily routines, inadvertently infecting more people. Alternatively, people with weaker immune systems that allow very high amounts of virus replication may be very good at transmitting even if they reduce their contacts with others. Individuals who have more symptoms – for example, coughing or sneezing more – can also be better at spreading the virus to new human hosts. A person’s behaviors, travel patterns and degree of contact with others can also contribute to super spreading. An infected shopkeeper might come in contact with a large number of people and goods each day. An international business traveler may crisscross the globe in a short period of time. A sick health care worker might come in contact with large numbers of people who are especially susceptible, given the presence of other underlying illnesses. When have super spreaders played a key role in an outbreak? There are a number of historical examples of super spreaders. The most famous is <a href="https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-typhoid-mary">Typhoid Mary</a>, who in the early 20th century purportedly infected 51 people with typhoid through the food she prepared as a cook. Since Mary was an asymptomatic carrier of the bacteria, she didn’t feel sick, and so was not motivated to use good hand-washing practices. During the last two decades, super spreaders have started a number of measles outbreaks in the United States. Sick, unvaccinated individuals visited densely crowded places like schools, hospitals, airplanes and theme parks where they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.4357">infected many others</a>. Super spreaders have also played a key role in the outbreaks of other coronaviruses, including SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/02/23/2003099824/1">A traveler sick with SARS and staying in a Hong Kong hotel</a> infected a number of overseas guests who then returned home and introduced the virus into four other countries. For both SARS and MERS, super spreading <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0450-0">commonly occurred in hospitals</a>, with scores of people being infected at a time. In South Korea in 2015, one MERS patient infected over 80 other patients, medical personnel and visitors in a crowded emergency department over a three-day period. In this case, <a href="http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/07/patient-proximity-key-korean-mers-super-spreader-event">proximity to the original patient</a> was the biggest risk factor for getting sick. Can super spreading occur in all infectious diseases? Yes. Some scientists estimate that in any given outbreak, 20% of the population is usually responsible for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/438293a">causing over 80% of all cases of the disease</a>. Researchers have identified super spreaders in outbreaks of diseases from those caused by bacteria, such as tuberculosis, as well as those caused by viruses, including measles, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2016.48.2.147">MERS</a> and <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/osu-dw021017.php">Ebola</a>. The good news is that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/investigating-outbreaks/investigations/control.html">with the right</a> <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/training/infection-prevention/en/">control practices</a> <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/bioriskreduction/infection_control/publication/en/">specific to how</a> <a href="https://www.who.int/ith/2020-24-01-outbreak-of-Pneumonia-caused-by-new-coronavirus/en/">pathogens are transmitted</a> – hand-washing, masks, quarantine, vaccination and so on – the transmission rate can be slowed and epidemics halted. Written by Elizabeth McGraw. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-super-spreader-an-infectious-disease-expert-explains-130756">The Conversation.</a>

Travel Tips

This merry kookaburra’s laugh is infectious

Ah, is there any sound in the world as <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/domestic-travel/2016/04/10-aussie-wildlife-parks-you-have-to-visit/">quintessentially Australian</a> as that of a kookaburra laughing? In this video from Warriors 4 Wildlife, we meet a merry kookaburra who’s just woken up, found something funny and can’t keep its laughter to itself. This cute little guy chortles, chuckles, giggles and guffaws (undoubtedly waking up any animals in the shelter sleeping nearby) as the keeper catches it all on tape. There’s a chance though it’s just marking its turf from the other birds. As <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/2017/02/bob-irwin-reveals-he-hasnt-been-to-australia-zoo-in-10-years/">Australia Zoo</a> notes, kookaburras use their distinctive calls to mark territory to other birds. Either way, it’s still a cute video. What’s your <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/domestic-travel/2014/12/best-places-to-bird-watch/">favourite Australia bird</a>? Have you ever come up close and personal with a kookaburra in real life? Let us know! Facebook/Warriors 4 Wildlife via Storyful

News

Infectious bacteria found in Sydney Harbour

If you’re thinking of taking a dip in Sydney’s famous harbour you might want to reconsider it, after scientists detected an aggressive species of marine bacteria. The study, conducted by scientists at the University of Technology Sydney, found two species of Vibrio bacteria in Sydney Harbour, known to cause serious illness. The Vibrio bacteria were present in high concentrations where water was warmest and in areas of mid-salinity, particularly around Parramatta Park, Olympic Park and Rozelle. The bacteria, either through the consumption of contaminated seafood or through exposure to swimmers, can cause skin and gastrointestinal infections. The report’s co-author and associate professor at UTS' Climate Change Cluster Justin Seymour, said the findings have implications for authorities and users of Sydney Harbour, but urged caution, “Given that these are naturally occurring marine organisms, it's not surprising that we're seeing them. People don't need to be super alarmed about their occurrence in Sydney Harbour at the moment. But what we've seen in other parts of the world are links between increasing seawater temperatures and the abundance of these bacteria and associated illnesses.” "I don't think people should change the way they use their local beaches, but it is something local management authorities should be aware of. There are potentially harmful effects for humans if outbreaks of these bacteria in the environment become more severe and common” A spokesperson for the Department of Health noted that swimming in the water carries risk of infection, “Germs, including a large range of bacteria and viruses, occur naturally and are very common in the environment. Vibrio species are commonly found in aquatic environments. Many of these bacteria and viruses are harmless to people. However some can be harmful if swallowed or if they infect wounds.” Related links: <a href="/health/body/2016/03/diets-over-detoxes/">Detox versus diet: which one is best?</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/03/tricks-to-beat-the-bulge/">Simple tricks to beat the bulge</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/03/struggling-to-lose-weight/">5 reasons why you may be struggling to lose weight</a>

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This merry kookaburra’s laugh is infectious

Infectious bacteria found in Sydney Harbour

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