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Sydney (dpa) - There is only a small risk of people developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from air travel, an Australian government study released Monday showed.
The study, which used anonymous data about passenger arrivals and hospital admissions in Western Australia, found a slightly heightened risk of developing the condition after a long flight.
The Health Department said data equates to DVT occurring once in about 40,000 flights, with a death every two million flights.
The evidence linking flying to DVT, commonly called jet-leg or economy-class syndrome, is inconclusive but airlines around the world warn passengers about its dangers.
Australians were alerted to DVT when a young, healthy English woman died after a flight home from Australia after the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Copyright 2003 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
