Airness
A letter to the editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine recently explained the epidemiology of the current A (H1N1) pandemic in relation to international air travel. The study analyzed flight patterns, especially the destinations of travelers from Mexico. It showed that countries which are the common destinations, like the US and Canada, are also those which have the large number of cases of A (H1N1) virus infection.
In conclusion, studies of air travel patterns can help us predict where the next epidemic will take place so we can set anticipatory measures. Life in this globalized and connected world now has certainly become easier but also scarier, because diseases now are more easily spread.
