Inflight killer a threat to one in 10

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

One in 10 air travellers on long flights risks contracting the potentially fatal "economy class syndrome," a British vascular surgeon says.

Dr John Scurr will shortly publish in the Lancet medical journal the results of 18 months' research on the condition, caused by blood clots forming in leg veins.

Dr Scurr, of University College Hospital, London, said his results would show a definite link between long-haul flights and the condition, also called deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

And as concern about the condition grows, the Observer newspaper in London revealed yesterday that British airlines ignored warnings about the condition for more than 30 years.

Air New Zealand was aware of the risks in 1991. Only recently have some airlines decided to warn passengers.

The Australian law firm Slater and Gordon, which is coordinating a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against up to 20 airlines on behalf of victims, says that many claims may be ruled out by time limits on liability.

The firm has 1000 claimants so far, including 11 New Zealanders.

Up to four people arriving at Auckland Airport each year die in the air or after landing from economy class syndrome.

But Dr Scurr told Sky News that there were simple steps all travellers could take to reduce the risks to almost nothing.

Taking aspirin to thin the blood, drinking plenty of water and not sitting still for long periods were all potential life-savers.

The clots, which cause leg pain, can break off and travel to the lungs, where they can prove fatal.

It is the extended immobility of sitting in a confined seat that puts people at risk, reducing the blood flow in the legs.

Those most vulnerable include pregnant women, smokers, people over 40, the overweight, women taking oral contraceptives, people who have had recent surgery and those suffering from cardiovascular disease.

West Auckland GP Dr Lannes Johnson told the Herald last night that 3 per cent of the population were genetically predisposed to dangerous clotting.

Tests were available and those with such a predisposition could be prescribed blood-thinning drugs before long flights.

The Observer said that despite being warned as long ago as 1968, airlines had played down the dangers and gave no advice to passengers on minimising the risks.

Air New Zealand spokesman Alastair Carthew said that the airline's in-flight magazine advised passengers to exercise, minimise alcohol intake, eat lightly and wear loose clothing.

But it had never mentioned blood clots, he said, adding that "it's important to get some perspective."

"Hundreds of millions of people travel every year by airlines.

"The number who appear to suffer from DVT or, certainly, die from DVT is minimal, minute.

"There needs to be an element of self-responsibility by people, when they are flying, to undertake some of these things [like exercise]."

Asked why the airline had decided to stamp warnings on tickets if the risk of the conditionwas minute, Mr Carthew said: "There is a lot of publicity about it. A lot of people have come out of the woodwork on it.

"We are just acting responsibly, I think."

The airline's chief medical officer, Dr David Powell, who is not permitted to talk to the media, wrote in the Herald last year that a 1991 Air New Zealand study showed the condition was more common in patients who had recently travelled long distances, "but this was common to air, road and rail travel."

The dangers of sitting immobile were revealed in 1940 when a British doctor found that the deaths of 23 people who had slept in air-raid-shelter deckchairs were due to blood clots in their lungs.

In 1968, two doctors alerted airlines, in an article on cardiovascular disease, to the dangers of blood clots during long flights.

In 1985, three British doctors wrote to the Lancet about blood clots causing problems after landing.

Their letter said: "We understand that airline passengers, even those on very long flights, are given no specific advice to prevent venous thrombosis."

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