Abstract

Every day Infectious diseases lead to hospitalization and the death of many people all over the world. Among these diseases, influenza has been a big concern to governments and health authorities. This dangerous disease is influenced by developing worldwide transportation networks during the 20th century.
In this study, we are investigating influenza transmission in an airplane cabin (Boeing 787 model in Air Canada Airline) during a commercial flight. Many factors influence the transmission of an infectious disease in an aircraft such as flight duration, ventilation system, interior design of the cabin, and behaviors of passengers and crew members. Along with these factors, several preventive actions can be taken to reduce influenza transmission in this environment, such as vaccination, wearing face mask, performing hand hygiene, and keeping distance from infected passengers.
Many studies have assessed the effect of performing such protective strategies in different settings like hospitals or schools that have the potential of providing a higher chance of getting infected.
Here we are using the Agent-Based-Model approach to simulate the spread of influenza in an airplane cabin. By using this flexible approach, we are showing the effect of performing one protective action or a combination of different actions on influenza transmission. Results show that all preventive strategies can be affected by different levels of efficiency and combination of different preventive strategies has the most effectiveness. In addition, we have concluded that participation of infected individuals in protective actions will increase the efficiency of each strategy more than other individuals.