Abstract:
The nature in which the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started and spread all over the world has surprised and shocked experts and the general population alike. This has brought out a worldwide desire and serious efforts to prevent, or at least reduce, the severity of another airborne viral infection and protect individuals gathering for various reasons. Toward this main purpose, a novel method to disinfect the air, using graded, predictable, safe, and reliable dosage of ultraviolet C (UVC), with specially designed devices, is described here. Individuals exclusively breathing this disinfected air can prevent infection, thus destroying the airborne virus or any other pathogens outside the human body to prevent acute and chronic damage to the organs and provide a sense of security to congregate, use public transport, and be protected in acute and long-term healthcare facilities. The study involved designing and testing a unit with one UVC chamber and another unit with six UVC chambers both enclosed in UVC-opaque housings that could be used to destroy airborne pathogens. Wild-type severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was used as a representative pathogen. The virus was fed into these units and in both units, the virus was destroyed to undetectable levels. Such disinfected air can be made available for individuals to breathe at an individual and a community level. The two units that were studied were able to destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus completely in UVC-opaque housings, making them safe for human use. By employing the air to bring the virus to the UVC, the problem of the virus getting protected behind structures was avoided. The individuals get to breathe totally disinfected air through a mask or a ventilator. To protect individuals who are unable or unwilling to use these units meant for individual use, the same principle can be expanded for use with air conditioners to provide community protection. It is envisaged that this method can prevent airborne infections from turning into pandemics and is a clear example of advocating prevention, rather than treatment. These units are expandable and the UVC dosage to the pathogen can be adjusted and predictable, thereby making it a standard technique to study the dosage needed to inactivate different pathogens.
摘要:
2019年冠状病毒病(COVID-19)大流行开始并在世界各地蔓延的性质让专家和普通民众都感到惊讶和震惊。这引起了全世界的渴望和认真的努力,或者至少减少,另一种空气传播病毒感染的严重程度,并保护因各种原因聚集的个体。为了这个主要目的,一种新的空气消毒方法,使用分级,可预测的,安全,和可靠的紫外线C(UVC)剂量,特别设计的设备,在这里描述。个人只呼吸这种消毒过的空气可以预防感染,从而消灭人体外部的空气传播病毒或任何其他病原体,以防止对器官的急性和慢性损害,并提供聚集的安全感,使用公共交通工具,并在急性和长期医疗机构中得到保护。该研究涉及设计和测试一个带有一个UVC室的单元和另一个带有六个UVC室的单元,这两个单元都封闭在UVC不透明的外壳中,可用于消灭空气中的病原体。使用野生型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)作为代表性病原体。病毒被送入这些单位和两个单位,病毒被破坏到无法检测到的水平。这样的消毒空气可以在个体和社区水平上提供给个体呼吸。被研究的两个单位能够在UVC不透明的外壳中完全消灭SARS-CoV-2病毒,使它们对人类使用安全。通过利用空气将病毒带到UVC,避免了病毒在建筑物后面受到保护的问题。个体通过面罩或呼吸机呼吸完全消毒的空气。为了保护不能或不愿意使用这些供个人使用的单位的个人,同样的原理可以扩展到与空调一起使用,以提供社区保护。据设想,这种方法可以防止空气传播感染演变成大流行,是倡导预防的一个明显例子,而不是治疗。这些单位是可扩展的,病原体的UVC剂量可以调整和预测,从而使其成为研究灭活不同病原体所需剂量的标准技术。