Return of AMCITS to the U.S.

Diseases can be spread in a variety of ways, according to Stauffer, W. M., Konop, R. J., and Kamat, D. (2002), ranging from a simple handshake to a mixing of fluids. As a result, many people are encouraged to wash their hands after using the restroom or interacting with a large group of people, especially if their hands are shaking. However, there are some infections that cannot be prevented from spreading through handshakes. Handshakes, however simple, can infect one with gastrointestinal viruses, enteric pathogens, skin and respiratory organisms, dermatophyte fungi, or exposure to mold and mildew (Shaw, n.d.). Diseases which cannot be easily washed away are like Ebola. In early 2014, the Ebola virus spread in West Africa and ended up becoming the worst outbreak of the virus in history, and the spread also reached the United States. This paper discusses the return of AMCITS to the U.S. via commercially contracted aircraft and the domestic travel of symptomatic but not detected passengers traveling on U.S. commercial aircraft and how the U.S. would go about preventing residual risk from affecting everyday life. The best way to halt an outbreak is through isolation, decontamination, and treatment. A case example was a doctor from the United States of America who had gone to treat Ebola patients in West Africa and ended up brining the disease back home. The doctor traveled home via Europe and then landed in New York. After carefully monitoring his body, he realized symptoms that suggested he was positively infected with Ebola. The doctor then followed the correct procedure of notification and was taken ill by his fellow doctors wearing the hazardous material (HAZMAT) suit. The suits, according to Ahn, M. H. (2007), were meant to ensure the doctors taking him ill were equally safe from the deadly Ebola infection and most importantly, prevent the spread of the disease domestically. After a period of isolation, treatment, and decontamination of the doctor, he was released from the hospital with zero additional infections It may seem simple going by the professionalism of the doctor that preventing the spread of an infectious disease is manageable. However, the doctor only managed to do so because of his technical knowhow in the field of medicine. Another case example involves a man, a United States Citizen, who was taken ill and went to seek medication at a nearby hospital in Los Angeles. After a possible misdiagnosis, the doctors went him home with antibiotics and Tylenol (Lupkin, 2014). Little did the doctors know that the man, the patient, had Ebola symptoms. A few days later the man arrived at the hospital via ambulance and eventually died from the Ebola virus. Ebola being highly infectious, the man infected many hospital workers and one medical deputy at the facility. The situation only got worse when one of the infected members f the hospital staff later boarded a cruise ship with passengers from all over the country. The spread of the virus through cruise ship passengers potentially brought it home to family, schools, and other hospitals. Preventing residual risk from affecting everyday life Ebola is just one of the most infectious diseases that can be transmitted during travels. There are many ways of preventing the possibility of such diseases being transmitted from one person to another as and when they occur. Such preventive measures are as discussed. Education Education is one of the most critical elements in the prevention of spread of the infectious diseases. The United States has a body known as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which essentially informs the international travel officials and the Department of State on the possible outbreaks and their potential effect on humanity, especially the American Citizens. For instance, according to the CDC, travel to Italy does not require much more than routine vaccinations, however, it identifies that there is the risk of contracting rabies. Specifically identifying travelers that will be working with animals or are participating in activities that will place them at risk for bat bites. To prevent a tragic outbreak of any infected/disease-exposed American citizens (AMCITS), the United States should proceed as if everyone was neglecting the available education, means, and preventative measures. The actions of the government should, therefore, apply to all citizens since it is not easy to tell who is knowledgeable and who is not. For instance, the passengers arriving from international flights should all be subjected to blood testing or incubation period to ensure traveler is not carrying illness. However, it should be made possible for those who can show proper vaccinations and means of preventative measures to be exempt from this kind of scrutiny. By so doing, passengers will begin to seek the necessary education to avoid the scrutiny. The other possibility of being exempted from the scrutiny should be the production of the proper itinerary by the passenger so that, should it be known that a passenger was not in a potentially risky location, he or she can be exempted. Educational materials should also be made available to everyone traveling in a way that when a flight takes a passenger to a location with known disease or illness, there shall be information at the departure location. Besides, before allowing the passenger to depart, they should show proof of vaccination or disease prevention. Vaccination According to CDC, putting on a seatbelt could prevent over 50% of the deaths from car crashes. Just like seatbelts, vaccination can prevent a large percentage of risk of getting infected, for instance, vaccination against small pox and mumps can make one 100% unsusceptible to be infected with the diseases (Hethcote, H. W. 2000). .The same way an American cannot travel to Europe without a passport is the very way the same citizen should not be allowed out of the country without records of proper prevention of the disease. Physical protection American Citizens traveling should be aware of the areas they are about to visits to avoid carrying back home some diseases which they could avoid. For instance, some counties in Africa still have severe malaria proportions, and such can be transmitted via insects such as mosquito (Herck, K., et al. 2004). One can prevent such diseases as malaria through physical measures such as wearing insect repellants when outdoor, sleeping under mosquito nets, only visiting screened areas and wearing trousers and long sleeved shirts to avoid bites (Alter, M. J. et al. 2001). In conclusion, the paper has discussed "the return of AMCITS to the U.S. via commercially contracted aircraft and the domestic travel of symptomatic but not detected passengers traveling on U.S. commercial aircraft" and "how the U.S. would go about preventing residual risk from affecting everyday life" such as through vaccination, physical measures, and education. References Ahn, M. H. (2007). Traveling and imported parasitic diseases. Journal of the Korean Medical Association, 50(11), 993-1004. Alter, M. J., Arduino, M. J., Lyerla, H. C., Miller, E. R., & Tokars, J. I. (2001). Recommendations for preventing transmission of infections among chronic hemodialysis patients. CDC (n.d.) Seat Belts: Get the Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/facts.html Herck, K., Castelli, F., Zuckerman, J., Nothdurft, H., Damme, P., Dahlgren, A. L., ... & Walker, E. (2004). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices in travel‐related infectious diseases: the European airport survey. Journal of travel medicine, 11(1), 3-8. Hethcote, H. W. (2000). The mathematics of infectious diseases.SIAM review, 42(4), 599-653. Lupkin, Sydney (2014) Ebola in America: Timeline of the Deadly Virus. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ebola-america-timeline/story?id=26159719 Shaw, Gina (n.d.) Bathroom Germs You Really Can Catch. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/bathroom-germs#1 Stauffer, W. M., Konop, R. J., & Kamat, D. (2002). Traveling with infants and young children. Part III: travelers' diarrhea. Journal of travel medicine, 9(3), 141-150.