Cool-Tech UVC - News

Asia's new covid surge - And Nimbus arrives the UK

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:11:51 GMT

Thanks to global travel sending people around the planet in a matter of hours, disease spreads remarkably fast in the modern world. We're seeing an ongoing covid surge in Asia at the moment, reminding us that we can't be complacent even through summertime when covid tends to draw back in the northern hemisphere. Let's take a look at what's out there right now.

Singapore and wider Asia experience covid surges

Singapore's Ministry of Health and their Communicable Diseases Agency are both keeping a close eye on a covid surge that kicked off in May, a serious matter even though there's no sign the circulating variants are either more transmittable or cause more serious disease than previous variants.

At the end of April to early May, weekly cases shot up to 14,200, up from 11,100 the week before, with average daily hospitalisations also rising. It isn't unexpected, with waves expected through the year, and the surge could be partly down to falling immunity in the general population. At the moment Omicron LF.7 and NB.1.8.1, both of which have descended from the JN.1 variant used for vaccines at the moment, are the main culprits in Singapore, accounting for more than two-thirds of local cases.

On the bright side neither of the two new variants are thought to be 'of concern'. But new covid fears are emerging as Asia's surge carries on. Cases in India, Thailand and Indonesia are all on the increase, which heightens the risk of new and more dangerous variants emerging. The NB.1.8.1 subvariant has already spread to numerous countries thanks to its powerful ability to bind to human cell receptors, and it may ultimately prove more infectious.

How will the Asian covid surge affect the UK?

We're already seeing warnings from the UK's medical sector about a new covid symptom as the Nimbus variant takes hold here. Apparently anyone with what they're calling a 'razor blade' throat could have picked up this this new, 'highly contagious' covid variant.

Nimbus is a descendant of Omicron and we're already seeing cases here following the original surges in Singapore, China and Hong Kong. Look out for fatigue, a very sore throat, blocked nose and an uncomfortable gut. The extreme sore throat is a new symptom, a sharp, stabbing pain at the back of your throat when you swallow. You might also have a red sore patch in the back of your mouth and swollen glands in your neck as your immune system kicks in. Other than that the symptoms are mostly what you'd expect from covid: a fever, aches and a blocked nose, a continuous cough, high temperature, loss of sense of smell and taste, and feeling sick. Most of the time it's mild but as usual, vulnerable people are more at risk.

There have been 13 UK Nimbus cases confirmed in the UK so far, but experts say there are likely to be a lot more simply because there's not as much testing as there was during the pandemic itself. But UK Health Security Agency data does reveal positive tests have shot up to record levels, already 97% more than we saw in March 2025. And that's why some experts are worried there'll be a surge of the new strain in the UK this summer.

If you're vulnerable, the official recommendation is to get a vaccination. But even if you do, and even if you've already had covid, you can still catch the virus because your immunity fades over time. Plus, covid is known to spread more easily in the hot, humid weather we've been seeing. With covid named as a factor in 300 deaths in England throughout May, this is no time to relax your guard. The UKHSA is keeping a close eye on things.

Elsewhere in the world, according to the WHO, Nimbus is responsible for just under 11% of covid worldwide, compared to 2.5% a month earlier.

Simple UVC disinfection does the trick

Our low cost, highly effective UVC disinfection units kill a huge list of pathogens in record time, leaving your premises cleaner and safer than a team of human cleaners could hope to achieve. As a healthcare facility, care home or educational establishment, cinema, theatre, gym or anywhere else people congregate, you might want to protect your business now, just in case we see a sudden surge. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how easy and affordable our units are, and they're super-simple to fit.

Why climate change and fungi go together like peaches and cream

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 13:11:20 GMT

According to the experts at the World Economic Forum , climate change is predicted to speed up the spread of fungal infections worldwide. Because fungi are responsible for millions of infections and as many as two and a half million deaths a year, it's something to keep an eye on.

An increase in extreme weather events helps spread fungi in the first place. Climate change is making more countries vulnerable to fungi as the weather reaches the perfect temperature to make fungi feel at home, then stays warm.

Fungi don't just make people ill, they can also cause severe property damage. Heavy rain and flooding mean water damage and associated moulds like dry rot, cellar rot and wet rot will start to affect more buildings. As fungal diseases spread and farmers are forced to use more agricultural fungicides, fungal resistance may rise. And because fungi are so adaptable, new types of fungal infections can easily emerge.

Meet Aspergillus fumigatus and A. Flavus

Aspergillus fumigatus is tipped as one fungal species to watch, potentially increasing its range by a worrying 77% by the end of the century and reaching into the far north of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Experts say it could expose 9 million more people in Europe alone to danger. Aspergillus is a common mould living in soil, compost and indoors. It causes the lung disease aspergillosis, which can spread around the body to affect other organs, a serious risk for people whose immune system is weak. It's so nasty the WHO has named it one of their top 4 fungal threats.

Then there's A. flavus, which infects crops as well as containing toxic aflatoxins that can cause liver cancer. The WHO says climate change could shift its comfort zone further north as more places hit temperatures of 37°C. It could soon start to spread across north China, Russia, Scandinavia and even Alaska as its traditional stamping grounds in places like Africa and Brazil become too hot for it.

Because the symptoms these fungi and others like them cause are so similar, they're often hard to diagnose. And this lack of awareness could be our undoing. Limited treatments, booming drug resistance and low investment in antifungal drug development could make the future even less certain. No wonder researchers and clinicians want governments to take fungi more seriously as a global health threat. As one expert said, “In 50 years, where things grow and what you get infected by is going to be completely different.”

UVC light comes with an impressive kill list

Check out our UVC Kill List , see how many fungal threats are inactivated quickly and efficiently simply by using UVC light at a special wavelength. Our UVC disinfection units are the perfect solution for all sorts of business wanting to steal a march on climate change-driven disease, allowing you to be prepared before new infections arise and existing ones move around the globe.

The UV LED tipping point is here!

Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:41:28 GMT

Does your business rely on UV disinfection? Are you still using old-school mercury based lamps, the traditional low pressure and medium pressure lamp tech? If so, now is the perfect time to make the shift to greener, cheaper, much more efficient UV-LEDs and help future-proof your business.

The rise of UV LED and the fall of mercury

Mercury-added lamps have been the standard system for a very long time, and they've always worked well. Now the RoHS directive (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment), which restricts hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment to protect the environment and public health, plus soaring demand for greener alternatives mean mercury is on the way out at long last. It's good news when mercury is so dangerous, and it is all down to UVC-LEDs.

Super-fast change heralds a bright LED future

The change is happening fast. It has taken UVC LEDs less than five years to catch up with and match the wall-to-plug efficiency of low and medium-pressure mercury lamps, partly because of increasing interest from the semiconductor sector. Many of the world's biggest semiconductor players, including Google, know that the materials, physical properties, and crystal-growing processes used for today's high-power transistors align surprisingly well with the tech used in UV-emitting LEDs. The result is a widespread, broad-brush transition moving so fast it's almost a revolution.

Where to begin your transition to UV-LED tech

So how do you ring the changes at your organisation? Experts recommend a steady approach led by smart, step-by-step modernisation. The first step is to figure out where you can add the most value by bringing the new tech into play. You'll need to establish which elements you can safely leave as they are for the moment and which deserve your initial focus. Then you'll want to create a future-proof technical foundation for the change. Perhaps you could set up test projects to trial UV-LEDs in situations where size matters, the capability to turn things on and off instantly is important, or there's an unusually strong environmental imperative.

Low power usage, simple tech, brilliant results

You could, of course, ignore the UV LED trend. But the dramatically lower power usage, low cost tech, low heat and more mean UV-LEDs aren't just delivering efficiencies. They also come with potentially huge energy cost savings and a greener profile that can give your business a competitive advantage over companies still generating UV light the old, energy inefficient, less environmentally friendly way. No wonder, as the pace of change accelerates, the world is seeing more traditional UV companies taking on the entire value chain from LED lamp manufacture to integrating the tech into end-use systems.

Will you lead the UV-LED revolution?

UV-LED trailblazers like us make a good starting point for advice and insight. We have the technical expertise and data to support you in developing projects and testing applications. You could maybe tap into existing applied scientific research by respected European institutions with a strong background in LED tech in the lab, experienced in optimising real-world solutions and bringing the tech into industrial settings.

Find support to get where you want to be

Transitioning to UV-LED tech means change but there's no need to throw everything out. It's about evolving alongside the tech. Make a start now and you'll be in a better competitive position sooner. If that sounds worth exploring, we'll be pleased to talk UV-LED with you.

Bad bacteria – The world's latest bacterial threats

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 11:34:59 GMT

Anyone who has seen a TV advert for fancy yoghurt knows there are good bacteria and bad bacteria. The former can enhance our lives and health, the latter can kill us, and while you might think these kinds of diseases belong in the third world, some of them are turning up in western nations many people would normally consider safe. Here's what's floating around the globe at the moment bacteria-wise.

Diphtheria hits Lagos

The Lagos Government has set its Emergency Response Committee on the case after an outbreak of diphtheria at King’s College. Apparently the outbreak has been brought under control and the authorities have asked people not to panic.

Apparently one 12-year-old pupil, who was suffering from a sore throat and fever in late February, was quickly referred then admitted to the paediatric emergency ward at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, given powerful antibiotics plus a full dose of diphtheria antitoxoid serum. Sadly the little boy suffered from 'progressive and irreversible' inflammation of the heart and died, myocarditis being a serious complication of the infection. Officials are keeping a close eye on 34 people who've had close contact with the boy, 14 of whom have already developed symptoms 'consistent with diphtheria'.

Two die from invasive group A streptococcal disease in Canada

The problem with prisons, as we know from covid, is diseases spread like wildfire when people are kept in crowded conditions where there's little or no fresh air. Two people have died at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex at Milton in Ontario, Canada, thanks to an outbreak of invasive group A streptococcal disease. Inmates are being checked every day, those with symptoms are being assessed and treated, and prison staff are carrying out 'additional cleaning'. The prison is also battling an influenza A outbreak

40 new cases of shigellosis in Oregon, USA

Since January 2025 forty new cases of shigellosis, caused by the Shigella bacteria, have been reported in Oregon, USA. The illness affects the the intestines, causing dysentery, fever and stomach pain. Apparently cases have been rising for more than 12 years, with the illness now turning up in the Portland Metro area.

Officials are calling it 'concerning'. Oregon saw high numbers of cases through 2024 as well, with two separate outbreaks of different strains . 2025's outbreak is down to a Shigella sonnei strain that turned up in spring 2024. Out of 197 cases across the USA, over 60% are currently in Oregon and 14 'sub-clusters' have been pinned down. The source hasn't been found yet.

14 dead from Melioidosis thanks to soil bacteria in Australia

A soil-dwelling bacteria called Melioidosis has killed 14 people in Queensland, Australia. This rare antibiotic-resistant disease is caused by bacteria in soil and mud in tropical regions, released after heavy rain or floods. The death toll makes 2025 a record-breaking year, like nothing the area has seen before. So far this year there have been 94 infections.

Illness happens when a person inhales the bacteria or it somehow gets into a person's bloodstream. Most of the current patients caught the illness from breathing it in. Experts say climate change is at the heart of the unprecedented outbreak, with Queensland seeing unusually heavy flooding following 1.5m of rainfall that engulfed homes, businesses and roads.

Melioidosis comes with a fatality rate as high as 50% because it is unusually aggressive as well as resistant to antibiotics, leaving people with weak immune systems most at risk. The symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing, coughing, and headaches.

The latest on Congo's mystery bacteria

Last time we mentioned the cluster of deaths linked to a mysterious illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now the WHO has a theory – it could be either poisoning or bacterial meningitis. So far it has killed 53 people since it was first spotted on 9th February, and around 1300 are suspected to have caught it. Because the symptoms, including fever, chills and headaches, are very like malaria and a raft of other illnesses, it is proving a challenge to interpret any ongoing trend.

US hospitals and nursing homes hit by listeria

A deadly listeria outbreak in the USA has been linked to drinks, namely a type of frozen nutritional shake drink served up in nursing homes and hospitals. There's a nationwide recall going on. So far 38 people have been infected across 21 states, and 12 have died.

Stop bacteria before they stop your business!

Our UVC sanitising units are proven to inactivate more than 50 horrible bacteria within minutes including Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax), Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 43429, Escherichia coli O157:H7 CCUG 29193, Streptococcus viridans and Salmonella typhimurium. There's every reason to believe they can do the same deadly damage to other bacterial threats. If you'd like to know more about protecting your business against them in a fast-changing climate change world, give us a call.

Is 2025 the year of the big bed bug boom?

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 11:22:48 GMT

Rentokil is predicting a bed bug boom for 2025. If they're right we face a shocking rise of 67% year-on-year thanks to increasingly warm weather. Here's what you need to know about the revolting little creatures that cause such havoc in homes, resorts, hotels, hospitals, and basically anywhere there are soft furnishings and bedding for them to snuggle into.

First, to stop your skin crawling too much, it's good to know that UVC light 'negatively impacts bed bug survival and host-seeking abilities'. Click here to download a science-led .pdf all about it. As the report concludes:

'This project strongly suggests that UV light is effective, both in killing bed bugs, and in impairing their ability to reach a host. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of this study was the dramatic effect UV light had on the egg stage. While eggs have proven to be most resistant to current control tactics, they are highly vulnerable to UV treatment.'

Bed bug facts to make you itch

Blood-sucking bed bugs live on furniture and bedding, and their bites itch like mad, the last thing you want in your public-facing business. The bugs are at their lowest levels in January-February but by the end of March they're on the rise again, ramping up fast until their numbers peak in August and September. The late summer peak and winter lows have been proven by science, reported by the Journal of Medical Entomology.

Bed bug numbers respond to warm weather. When it drops below 13C they nod off, going into hibernation. They can stay is this state of suspended animation for as long as a year, only waking up when things get warmer and they sense food in the shape of humans. If the weather drops below freezing they die, and anything above 45C also kills them off. The temperature they like best is human temperature, which is why they're so happy living indoors with us, where it never gets cold or hot enough to stop them in their tracks.

When we go on holiday bed bugs enjoy another opportunity, this time spreading themselves around hotels, apartments, villas, guest houses and B&Bs, hitching a ride on the nearest unsuspecting person, hiding in luggage and sneaking around inside our clothing. It's no surprise the hospitality sector suffers more than any other from bed bug infestations.

A guest with just one bed bug on board can cause chaos. Every female bed bug lays as many as seven eggs a day, and the babies mate with each other to create a disgusting never-ending circle. Hiding during daylight, they come out an night to feast on human blood, quickly spreading until they infest an entire building if they're not stopped in their tracks. They can crawl as fast as 100 feet an hour, reaching every area of a building in a short time. It can be hard to know there's an infestation because people just assume they've suffered an ordinary insect bite or two. Worse still, because some bed bug bites don't start to itch straight away, the source isn't always obvious.

On the journey back from holiday they can hop off you or your luggage to infest boats, planes, trains, taxis, other travellers and their luggage, and ultimately your home. No wonder 2020 and 2021 were low bed bug years, with covid preventing travel and keeping us all at home. Now UK bed bug numbers have shot up again, 2025 is looking like a bumper year and London – being an international tourist destination – could be in for a particularly bad bed bug season.

How to stop an infestation of bed bugs

Early detection is really important. The earlier they're detected, the earlier they can be dealt with and the spread stopped. Otherwise customer complaints, bad reviews and even prosecutions could be on the cards for your hospitality business.

Human cleaners aren't much help simply because the bugs like the dark, spending all day hiding, and they're really small anyway. Spray pesticides are not much use when the pest control company can't see where the bugs are hiding. Worse still, the creatures are quickly evolving immunity to the powerful pesticides that used to kill them off.

If you'd like to know more about our simple, affordable UVC disinfection tech, which quickly inactivates an enormous list of common and not-so-common pathogens, get in touch for an inspiring conversation.

Viral and bacterial threats vanquished by our UVC mobile sterilisers

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 11:34:31 GMT

So what has been going on in the wonderful world of viral and bacterial infections? Read on if you're responsible for hygiene at a school or university, hospital, cruise ship, nursing home, restaurant, cafe, gym, clinic, surgery, hospitality setting, office, factory, childcare setting, on public transport, or at a theatre or cinema. Basically, wherever there's a risk of infections being spread, our UVC mobile sterilisers take the strain... pun intended!

Parvovirus B19

This week the HSE has reminded the UK about a contagious viral infection that is common in children. It's nicknamed 'slapped cheek syndrome', is caused by parvovirus B19 and mostly clears up on its own after a few weeks. The virus spreads to humans, surfaces and objects when infected people cough or sneeze near them. Like many viral infections parvovirus B19 can be 'serious' in adults and the vulnerable. The story highlights, once again, the importance of good hygiene in public spaces and businesses.

Norovirus hitting the UK harder than last winter

As revealed by NHS England in late February, the UK has seen a record-breaking number of patients in hospital with norovirus, an average of 1160 a day, more than twice the number seen at the same time in winter 2023-24.

RSV hospitalisations more than double compared to last year

NHS data also reveals RSV cases are rising, with an average of 22 children in hospital with RSV per day in late February 25, up 83% compared to earlier in the month and more than double what we saw at the same time last winter.

Mystery viruses lurking in the wings

A mysterious viral disease has been affecting the western Democratic Republic of Congo, causing 60 deaths so far. The latest viral epidemic to hit the East African in the last year, it follows on from outbreaks of Marburg and mpox. The WHO says the new disease is neither Ebola nor Marburg, but it comes with the same dreaded symptoms of haemorrhagic fever. Thanks to covid we all know how fast a virus can travel around the modern world, in a global economy, which keeps these worrying infectious pathogens on the science community's radar.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are winning the battle

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but they are gradually losing their power. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria can evolve to withstand the drugs, making illnesses a lot harder and sometimes impossible to cure, for example antibiotic resistant TB. The resulting 'superbugs' already contribute to 35,000 deaths a year in the UK alone, directly kill more than 7500 of us in the UK every year, and cause the death of more than a million people annually worldwide.

The National Audit Office says the UK is going to miss most of the targets set in 2019 to deal with antibiotic resistance. England's target to cut these infections by 10% between 2018 and 2025 has failed miserably, rising by 13% in 2023 alone. The problem is that some antibiotics are being released into the environment in 'unprecedented' quantities because they're being used in medicines and farming, for example being spread via sewage that escapes into rivers, or draining from farmland into streams.

So how can you handle the threats and potential future threats of viral and bacterial infections at your business without spending a fortune or having to re-fit the entire building? Luckily it's a simple matter thanks to our powerful, safe mobile UVC hygiene units.

Powerful, safe Direct Fixed Surface Sterilisation

Our Mobile UVC LED Steriliser Units harness the power of germicidal lights, the perfect complement to everyday cleaning services carried out by humans. Because they offer such a fast turnaround, you don't have to suffer any downtime.

Because these robust solid state UVC LED hygiene units don't contain mercury vapour they're perfect for fast disinfection without chemicals, simple to use and popular with cleaning staff. They're easy to wheel around from room to room and building to building for intense continual disinfection, and they're also perfect when you need to respond fast to an infection emergency.
Opt for a 200w unit or a 600W unit to deployed fast disinfection with all the benefits of the one and only sustainable, no-chemicals pathogen-killing solution on the market at the moment.

Why buy mobile UVC fixed surface sterilisation from us

A UK-based company, we've been providing environmentally friendly, low energy solutions to the private and pubic sectors since 2006. Our UVC LED lamp tech suits every application and our tech is constantly evolving. If you'd like us to engineer a UVC solution specially for your business, we'll be delighted to go innovate for you.

What does the future of UVC sanitising tech look like?

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:51:50 GMT

Our UVC disinfection tech already uses UV light in the C spectrum to inactivate microorganisms so they can't make us ill, damaging the DNA and RNA inside pathogens, stopping them from reproducing and making them harmless. The idea has been harnessed for decades to keep people safe from disease. But what does the future hold for this promising technology? In this article we delve into future developments for UVC sanitisation.

Recent advancements in UVC hygiene technology

UVC LED innovation is marching onwards. The development of UVC LEDs has been a significant breakthrough in itself, being more energy-efficient, smaller and longer-lasting than old-school mercury bulbs. Research is ongoing, with the aim of improving LED tech's power and efficiency even more.

Far-UVC 222 nm technology is driving particular interest at the moment because it might turn out to be safe for human exposure while still being deadly to pathogens. Recent studies show Far-UVC works hard to inactivate airborne and surface viruses without harming people's eyes or skin, but only time will tell whether it'll prove a promising tool for continuous disinfection in places where people gather and remain for some time. The safety aspect is clearly vital where people's health and wellbeing are concerned.

260nm LED light is gaining in popularity thanks to its insect attraction and repelling properties, a wavelength insects can't resist. 260nm LEDs can be used to trap and kill pests in an energy-efficient way without chemicals. It is also being explored for other purposes including scientific research, industrial curing, horticulture and indoor farming, where it's used to help stop the growth of mould, mildew, and other pathogens. It is even being used in specialist lighting for entertainment venues. Experts are expecting to see an increasing variety of applications developing across multiple sectors.

Including UVC disinfection in HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems improves indoor air quality, something that suddenly became a lot more urgent thanks to the covid pandemic. The list of pathogens inactivated by the light is long and impressive, bringing the power of UVC into many more settings, from theatres to schools, factories to nursing homes, offices to childcare.

Portable UVC devices boomed during covid, but all was not well. Some cheap, badly-designed wands and hand-held lamps available online were found to be dangerous to humans and animals. The dramatic covid-led surge in these badly-designed personal UVC devices saw them being used to to disinfect surfaces, personal items and even water, and countless models are still on sale online.

Drug-resistant pathogens don't stand a chance against UVC light, really good news when some antibiotic resistant strains of illnesses can and do kill people, as well as having the ability to spread like wildfire. It also has more potential to achieve in healthcare settings to combat hospital-acquired infections. UVC robots are being used more widely than ever in healthcare, including our own mobile units. Revolutionising the way hospitals approach infection control, they're being widely integrated into hygiene protocols as a solution to the age-old challenge of maintaining a sterile environment for patients who are vulnerable and susceptible to infections. While traditional cleaning methods fall short in eradicating all harmful pathogens, UVC robots do an excellent job of enhancing cleaning as well as freeing healthcare staff to focus on patients.

High safety and regulatory standards are the name of the game. The European Medicines Agency’s Annex 1, for example, is set for full implementation by 2025, vital for refining clean-room contamination control strategies. Extensive research is going on into Pathogen Inactivation Efficiency, to understand more about the optimal UVC wavelengths and dosages required to inactivate various pathogens, understand how UVC exposure affects different materials, especially in healthcare and food contexts, and investigate the long-term effects of UVC exposure on human health, particularly Far-UVC.

Smart sensors like those we've integrated into our units detect the presence of humans and automatically shut off UVC LEDs to prevent exposure in occupied spaces, something we expect to become even more sophisticated over time. We're expecting to eventually see the light being integrated into consumer electronics, for example smartphones, wearable tech and domestic appliances, to provide continual disinfection.

Smart new semiconductor materials like aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) are being tested. AlGaN is used to manufacture light-emitting diodes operating in the blue to ultraviolet spectrum, with wavelengths down to 250 nm (far UV) achieved, and some reports of 222 nm. The more efficient the units, the better for everyone.

So will your business benefit from UVC sanitisation? Our units are easy to fit and retro-fit into ordinary light fittings. They're designed by experts and tested carefully to deliver safe, effective, low cost, safe sanitisation to places where people gather and in vacated spaces, giving businesses a wide choice of ways to stay clean and hygienic. If you'd like to talk things through, get in touch.

Essential facts about UVC light and how we've harnessed it

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 12:00:05 GMT

The UV Spectrum is complex. UV light spans wavelengths from 10 nm to 400 nm, divided into three sub-types based on the wavelength. UVA light, at 315-400 nm, comes with the longest wavelength, the least energetic but the most common at 95% of the UV radiation reaching the earth's surface. UVB light, at 280-315 nm, is the medium wavelength, a higher energy type of light that gives us sunburn. And UVC light, at 100-280 nm, offers the shortest, most energetic and dangerous type of UV radiation.

The germicidal properties of UVC were first discovered in the late 1800s, and it has been used for disinfection for over a century, particularly in water treatment. UVC light is what we use in our popular disinfection units, engineered with care and expertise to create perfectly safe, affordable and highly effective ways to render a huge variety of pathogens harmless.

Here are the facts about the powerful type of light that saves lives and supports better business, used for decades in healthcare, food, drinking water, HVAC systems, in medical and lab settings and more.

UVC light and the ozone layer

UVC light emitted by the sun, falling within the UVC Spectrum, is mostly absorbed by the planet's protective atmosphere, particularly the ozone layer. The ozone layer is made up of O3 ozone molecules, which gather in the stratosphere 10 to 30 miles above the surface of the earth. Ozone absorbs almost all of the UVC radiation, converting the high-energy radiation into heat in a process called photodissociation, splitting the ozone molecule into one oxygen atom and an oxygen molecule. This ozone-oxygen cycle continually creates and destroys ozone in the stratosphere, keeping things in perfect balance and protecting life on the planet.

We've engineered UVC light for safety

In its raw state UVC light is dangerous to the skin and eyes, causing everything from sunburn and premature ageing to skin cancer. When engineered into a safe solution its germicidal properties make UVC light a powerful tool for disinfection, destroying the molecular bonds between the DNA and RNA in bacteria, viruses, fungi and other threats so they can't reproduce. It's particularly good at breaking the thymine bases in DNA, causing mutations that prevent the pathogen from spreading and making people ill.

How old-school mercury UVC lamps have been replaced with LEDs

So UVC is one of the most effective ways to disinfect surfaces, air, and water, killing everything from E. coli to flu and covid. But the tech has come a long way in recent years, making it a much safer option. Old-school Mercury Vapor Lamps emitted the light at a wavelength in the 254 nm range, but everyone knows mercury is horribly poisonous, well worth avoiding when there's a safer, more environmentally responsible alternative. Then there are old-style Low-Pressure Mercury Lamps, used in germicidal settings but still involving mercury. The newer kids on the block, like ours, harness LED UVC for a more energy-efficient, durable and smaller-sized alternative.

Built in safety features you can trust

Our UVC devices are designed to be safe, emitting radiation in controlled environments or with built-in shields to keep people, plants and animals safe from harmful exposure. They're also a lot more environmentally friendly. Old mercury-based UVC lamps need to be disposed of very carefully indeed to avoid contaminating the environment. It's also good to know that artificial UVC light doesn't affect the ozone layer like CFCs and other pollutants, not adding anything to the ozone depletion problem.

Practical, compact easy-to-fit and portable units

Low Pressure UVC Lamps are used in many sterilization settings, for example air purifiers, HVAC systems and water purifying. High Pressure UVC Lamps giving off a more intense light are best for larger scale disinfection, for example treating sewage. UVC LED lamps and units like ours are compact enough to be portable thanks to their a compact design and energy efficiency. Some of our units are designed to be fitted into existing light fixtures, small and neat as well as long-lasting, pieces of kit with all the right safety measures built in. Some are so safe you can leave them on all the time.

UVC units that can always be left on

Here's an example. Our CT-X2 UVC LED Ceiling Air Circulating Purification Lamp is safe to have on all the time. It disinfects both the upper air in a room and the air from below, which is sent through a fan to increase the air circulation to protect people in the area.

This model is perfect for continuous disinfection when people are present, places like offices, schools, sports centres, shops and healthcare settings. In effect these units deliver beautifully clean air as standard, integrating it into your premises.

Choose from a handy industry standard 600mm or 300mm square ceiling tile unit. The X1 uses convection to provide continuous air disinfection, the X2's mechanical extraction design gives you silent air circulation and the X3 integrates both for surface and air sterilisation, great for your loos, changing rooms, lifts and other small spaces where people don't tend to spend a lot of time.

That's just one of a variety of units designed for specific circumstances. Take a look at our other products, see how they could benefit your business, from mobile units you can wheel around to units specifically designed for vehicles.

What's next for UVC?

There's research going on around the world to find more applications for UVC light, including potentially using it in farming to handle plant pathogens and in food preservation to extend the shelf life of perishable foods.

Viruses: the good, the bad, the ugly and the strange

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:00:02 GMT

Our UVC units kill viruses in just a few minutes, protecting people's wellbeing in all sorts of business and healthcare settings. It's good news when new threats are arising all the time. And it's even better news thanks to research revealing some common winter viruses could trigger heart complications. But as it turns out the viruses inside us, our lifetime companions, are on our side. Weirder still, viruses make sound – and scientists have been listening. Here's the news.

The good – 380 trillion viruses inside us

Did you know your body is occupied by huge numbers of microorganisms? You probably do, since together they make up our 'microbiome', something widely discussed in the media in recent years.

While these tiny passengers have evolved alongside humans for millions of years, we've only just begun to quantify the human microbiome. Now we know it includes at least 38 trillion bacteria per human, but the biggest chunk of all is made up of viruses. Estimates say there are at least 380 trillion viruses inside every one of us, a lively, active community called the human virome. Luckily these viruses are not harmful like those that cause flu, covid, Ebola and dengue fever. Many of them, called bacteriophages or 'phages' for short, actually protect us by infecting the bad bacteria that live inside us.

Phages live in our protective mucus membranes, the body's physical barrier against invading bacteria. We've lived with them inside us for so long that these days they're an important part of the human immune system. In fact they are so effective they've been used by medical experts to treat dysentery, sepsis, salmonella infections and skin infections for almost 100 years.

As time goes by we're beginning to understand more about this remarkable symbiotic relationship. Non-symptomatic herpes viruses, for example, support our killer white blood cells in identifying cancer cells and cells infected by other viral pathogens. Their work benefits the viruses themselves as well as their human hosts, helping them live longer as well as getting rid of competing viruses that might damage their host. The most exciting thing of all is the fact that we might eventually be able to modify these handy little beasts to actually target cancer cells and other nasties.

The bad – A virus with 70% mortality lands in the USA

A deadly virus whose mortality rate could be as high as 70% has been found in the US for the first time. The Camp Hill virus has been spotted in shrews in Alabama, a sign that always worries scientists because, like all viruses, it could find a way to species-hop into humans. Australian fruit bats are the usual hosts for the virus, so it's concerning to find it inside a different mammal on a different continent.

The Camp Hill virus is a henipaviruses from a family that includes the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which kill 40-75% of those they infect. So far the Camp Hill virus hasn't been seen in humans. We don't know what the death rate would be if it did infect humans but it's a lot like the Langya virus, which crossed from shrews to humans in China to cause fever, fatigue, coughs and aches, liver dysfunction and kidney damage. As you can imagine experts are keeping a close eye on the situation.

The ugly – Winter viruses could cause heart and stroke issues

The American Heart Association says some common viruses have been linked to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, with the biggest risk occurring within three days of being infected and an increased risk for as long as three months. Because viruses provoke inflammation they can either lead to cardiac problems or make existing problems worse. When the body's immune system creates inflammation to fight a virus, the inflammation can accidentally cause harm to the tissue of the heart. And that makes avoiding common illnesses like flu, norovirus and covid more important than ever.

The strange – Virus talk

Did you know viruses talk? They emit sound waves at a frequency 1 million times higher than our ears can pick up, as discovered by chemists and microbiologists at Michigan State University, USA. Apparently the team has even picked up tiny, weeny natural vibration frequencies made by individual viruses by bouncing light off them to 'see' vibration patterns.

Having examined the vibrations of single virus particles at room temperature using ultrafast spectroscopy, the team discovered every type of virus vibrates in its own unique way, distinct from each other and all the others tested. This means one day we may be able to use these 'bio-sonics' to scan a room, detect viruses in the air, and identify them so tech like our UVC sanitising units can be deployed to kill them.

It's good to be prepared for the worst. If you'd like to keep your premises clean, safe and hygienic using the magic of UVC light at a wavelength so powerful it kills pathogens in no time, let's talk.

Not All Viruses Are Bad For You. Here Are Some That Can Have a Protective Effect : ScienceAlert
Meet the 380 trillion viruses inside your body

New virus discovered in Alabama raises pandemic fears
Viruses make sound at a frequency 1 million times higher than humans can hear
Some winter viruses could trigger heart complications, experts warn

UVC cleaning systems and Avian Flu in humans

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:28 GMT

Bird flu in humans is very rare but it can be serious or even deadly. The United States reported its first bird-flu related death in January 2025. Now a human case of bird flu has been detected in England, someone from from the West Midlands who was infected on a farm where they had close, long-term contact with a lot of infected birds. On the bright side they're being cared for in a 'High Consequence Infectious Disease' or HCID unit, and they're not too ill.

A national Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) came into force for the whole of England and Scotland at noon on Saturday in a bid to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading amongst poultry and other captive birds. As of 26th January 2025 it's a legal requirement for every keeper of birds in Scotland and England to follow strict rules to protect their flocks from avian flu , including keeping birds indoors.
The birds that passed the infection on had the DI.2 genotype of bird flu, just one of the viruses circulating in birds in the UK this winter. It's not the same as the strains circulating in both mammals and birds in the USA. The strains that can infect humans in the UK include A(H5N1) and A(H7N9), while H5N1 was the strain responsible for the first US bird flu fatality.

The human case was found after the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency found the H5N1 outbreak in a flock of birds, then monitored the people who'd been in close contact with the infected birds, in other words those who are most likely to be infected by it.

While there's no evidence of onward transmission from the latest human case, it's important not to touch sick or dead birds – and vital to follow Defra's guidance over reporting suspected avian flu cases. Bird flu is spread by close contact with an infected bird, alive or dead, including touching a dead bird, bird poo or bird bedding, by killing an infected bird or preparing it for cooking. You can’t catch bird flu by eating properly-cooked poultry or eggs, even when there's an outbreak of bird flu.

So far there hasn't been a single documented case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu in the UK or EU, though has occasionally happened abroad. Bird flu symptoms usually turn up 3-5 days after exposure and infection, and can include a very high temperature, shivers and aches, a headache, cough or shortness of breath, maybe sickness and diarrhoea, stomach and chest pain, nose and gum bleeds and conjunctivitis. With only seven cases identified in the UK since 2021, the UKHSA says the risk to the public remains 'very low'. It's good to know the UK is prepared and ready to respond, having added the H5 vaccine, which protects against bird flu, to the nation's stockpile.

How our UVC units kill pathogens

Our proven UVC Cleaning Systems reduce the infections and illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses, moulds and other pathogens thanks to equipment that delivers the highest level of quality for multiple applications. Harnessing UVC light at a specific wavelength that destroys the RNA inside pathogens fast, leaving them unable to multiply and making our lights the ultimate environmental disinfectant.

Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation and UVC Disinfection Treatments are regulated by the USA's notoriously fussy Environmental Protection Agency, proven as an effective non chemical pesticide, and have been used safely and effectively in UK healthcare settings for decades. Labs using flow hoods for working with pathogens, for example, often have built-in UV lights to kill bacteria or viruses when the hoods aren't being used.

Unlike some units whose surface can reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit, ours run on LED bulbs, which means they can't become dangerously hot. So ours don't need internal thermostats and electric cooling fans to keep the equipment at the right operating temperature, which brings the cost down and keeps things simple.

Our Direct Fixed Units automatically disinfect the air and surfaces whenever the space is unoccupied, significantly reducing the spread of illnesses. Our Upper Air Germicidal Units are perfect for continuous disinfection when people are present, for example a medical setting or a bird farm. We install the units above peoples heads to stop cross-contamination by viruses and germs by sharply reducing the overall viral load in the air. These Upper Air Germicidal Units mean clean air is the standard, not the exception.

Our lights are easy to install, inexpensive to buy and run, and multiple studies suggest it's a safe way to prevent any virus from transmitting, including covid, flu, avian flu, measles, potential future pandemic viruses and new infectious viruses yet to emerge. There's no reason why it won't also kill avian flu in all its various variants, because it is a virus like any other.

Let's talk about keeping your business bird flu-safe

Antiviral drugs can prevent complications and reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill – but the best cure of all is prevention. If you'd like to keep your business safe from the spread of all sorts of horrible human-to-human viruses, we'll be pleased to explain the tech to you, and provide a no-obligation quote.

Big news for long term Far-UVC safety

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:08 GMT

We already know Far-UVC light at 222nm is safe for people's eyes in the shorter term, unlike other UV light wavelengths. Now a three year research project has proved its safety in the long term, with an excellent ocular safety record over 36 months. It looks like the light has no adverse effects at all on vision, eye health or overall eye safety, even following years of exposure. Here's the science, translated into plain language for you.

About Far-UVC ultraviolet light

UVC decontamination has been used for decades in hospitals, ambulances and waiting rooms, all of which must be continually disinfected. While regular UVC light at 254 nm ( Fluorescent Tubes) is too dangerous for people to be in, 222 nm Far-UVC light delivers continual decontamination perfectly safely with people present, as shown by the long term research we're talking about.

Far-UVC has a wavelength of 222 nm, proven to deactivate microorganisms quickly by destroying their RNA. It doesn't get past the outer layer of human skin, or the eye's cornea, both of which the body renews automatically and continually. And that makes it unique when used within the safe limits identified by science. As the new 3 year study reveals, it is perfect for decontaminating occupied spaces.

While studies lasting for shorter times have already proved its safety, it is great to know that three years of exposure to Far-UVC light, even when someone is exposed to it every day, is officially deemed harmless. Unless you're a pathogen, of course, in which case... you're dead!

About the science

The three year test took place in real-world conditions, in an ophthalmology examination room fitted with 222 nm Far-UVC lamps. Four ophthalmologists worked in the room, carefully observed and tested regularly for eye health. The scientists running the study measured visual acuity, the ability to see details at a certain distance, refractive error which makes it hard to see clearly, and overall corneal health.

The results were clear and consistent: the safety of 222 nm Far-UVC light for prolonged use in occupied spaces is proven, with no changes in visual acuity, refractive error, cornea health or overall eye health. There were no abnormalities or significant changes, no long term side effects, and no delayed problems turned up afterwards.

Why is 222 nm Far-UVC safe for eyes and skin?

222 nm UVC is safe because it can't penetrate the eye or skin, unlike other UVC wavelengths which can cause damage by going a lot deeper. It only touches the outermost layers, which renew naturally after 24-48 hours anyway so there's never any lasting damage.

Significant benefits for healthcare settings and patients

UVC disinfection tech has already revolutionised decontamination in healthcare settings, being clean, low cost, very low maintenance and highly effective.

In hospitals it cuts the risk of healthcare-associated infections. When used alongside normal manual cleaning it dramatically decreases harmful pathogens on high-touch surfaces.
In ambulances UVC keeps things safe and sterile, constantly decontaminating the air and the surfaces it touches.
In waiting rooms it kills airborne bacteria and viruses, cutting the risk of illnesses spreading a lot better than traditional ventilation.
Because it also kills moulds it delivers better air quality to help protect the vulnerable.

As you can imagine there are also excellent cost benefits. It cuts the time staff members are off sick and lowers infection rates in patients, providing better outcomes for patients as well as higher operational efficiency. In fact, during the covid pandemic, it was estimated to save around €3.3 million for just one large healthcare premises.

Improve productivity, reduce sick days & keep employees happy

The results of the study reinforce UVC's role as an excellent solution for continuous decontamination in real-world healthcare contexts, but also for other businesses of every shape, size and flavour.

If you want to keep your employees healthy, lose less time to sick days, protect visitors, customers, suppliers and anyone else who enters the premises, our affordable units blend effectiveness and safety to deliver better infection control than any other decontamination technique.

Fit FAR-UVC in your business and feel the benefits

Less time off sick, better productivity, an intact supply chain at your place and a workforce that knows you genuinely care about their health – that's what our units do for businesses. If you'd like to know more, get in touch.

What are the biggest viral health threats for 2025?

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 12:17:27 GMT

There's been a flurry of media interest about new, current and evolving viruses for 2025, including some disturbing reports about bird flu in Canada, Mongolia and the USA. In this post we take a look at the viral health threats we may face in 2025, and reveal how to stay safe from them.

The winter norovirus season gets off to a horrible start

The media reports on an '80 per cent rise' in severe illness that leaves people feeling totally wiped out, and experts are wondering whether a new antigen might be behind the surge. If so it won't be the only virus to skyrocket this winter, adding to the already heavy burden of flu, regular norovirus, RSV and Covid.

There are worries that norovirus in particular might have become more severe, especially since some counties have seen a dramatic increase in norovirus infections. If the new antigen makes it easier for the virus to spread, leads to a more serious illness or both, it could explain the sharp increase in cases. So far we do know that this winter's norovirus seems to be making people more ill than usual, with some GPs seeing entire families out of action because of it and others hospitalised because of dehydration.

New HMPV outbreak hits China

Human Metapneumovirus is very like a common cold, with coughs and wheezes, a runny nose and a sore throat. Like the common cold, most of the time it's mild but it can be serious in small children, people with weak immune systems and those over 65. Now we're seeing a new HMPV virus outbreak in China, whose symptoms are a bit different.

Social media reports from China suggest hospitals are being overwhelmed and crematoriums are full thanks to the outbreak, adding to the country's current winter outbreaks of influenza A, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Covid. Some say they're on the brink of declaring a health emergency. So far there's no vaccine for HMPV.

This year's flu virus is a particularly nasty one

The 2024-25 flu season is by all accounts a nasty one. One UK Health Security Agency report from late 2024 says flu had already increased compared to the previous season and was circulating at high levels. No wonder more than 4000 of us spent Christmas Day in hospital with flu, and so many others took such a long time to recover.

It's partly down to the slump in flu vaccinations. During the Covid pandemic free jabs were offered to all over 50s. Now it is only available to people over 65 and those at special risk. Add the fact that vaccine uptake has dropped, with fewer than 35% of higher risk adults having their flu jab, and you can see why things are headed in an unwanted direction. Too many frontline healthcare staff have also decided not to get the jab at just under 43%, not good news for people in hospital. We need a 90% uptake for the vaccination programme to limit flu outbreaks.

On the bright side the current rise isn't unprecedented, not as bad as the 2022-23 season which caused 5000 flu deaths a week in England alone.

H5N1 bird flu jumps between animals and humans

Scientists have been keeping a careful eye on bird flu for almost 30 years, first identified in geese during 1996. While the virus only causes mild infections in humans, classed as low pathogenic, H5N1 often kills birds so for them it is highly pathogenic.

Mongolian horses are in the news for catching H5N1 bird flu, and of course humans can also catch it. We've just seen the first human death from bird flu in the USA. Luckily, so far, human bird flu is rare, usually a 'dead-end infection' because it doesn't spread from human to human.

In 2021 it turned up in North America, having evolved from infecting birds to making a wide variety of mammals ill. So far it has spread to 48 species across 26 or more different countries, with massive death tolls for marine mammals as well as land creatures, being called a global pandemic for animals.

A Canadian teenager who caught the disease late in 2024 became seriously ill. It turned out that H5N1 had managed to evolve enough to infect cells in her respiratory system. The same goes for the person who caught it in Louisiana, USA. Now infectious disease experts are saying the virus's continual spread is making its transformation into a 'fully human' pathogen more likely.

The latest news? On January 10th San Francisco Department of Public Health said a child had caught H5N1 avian flu, origin unknown. We hope the child recovers.

UVC sanitising tech does the job

So what can you, as a business owner, do to keep your employees safe from these infections, protect your customers, and keep your part of the supply chain going strong? The answer is simple and reliable. Our UVC disinfection tech is affordable, simple, safe, clean, cheap to run, comes with little or no maintenance, and kills a huge list of pathogens stone dead in seconds. If you'd like to know more, get in touch.

Protecting your business with UVC light against HMPV and other viruses

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 14:19:27 GMT

In recent times, the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has been making headlines due to its surge in cases, particularly in China. While HMPV is not a new virus, its recent uptick has raised concerns about respiratory illnesses. HMPV is a known respiratory virus that typically causes mild cold-like symptoms, including cough, fever, and nasal congestion. However, it can lead to more severe respiratory issues, especially in vulnerable populations such as young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

Given the potential for HMPV and other viruses to spread, it's imperative for businesses to implement effective disinfection strategies to protect employees and customers. One such method is the use of UVC light technology.

How UVC light works

Ultraviolet C (UVC) light, with wavelengths between 200–280 nm, is known for its germicidal properties. When microorganisms are exposed to UVC light, it damages their DNA or RNA, rendering them incapable of replication and effectively neutralising them. This makes UVC light a powerful tool in disinfecting air, surfaces, and water. Beckman Laser Institute

Benefits of UVC light for businesses

Chemical-free disinfection: UVC light provides a non-chemical method of disinfection, reducing the reliance on potentially harmful cleaning agents.
Broad-spectrum efficacy: UVC light is effective against a wide range of pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and moulds.
Cost-effective: While the initial investment in UVC equipment is required, it can lead to long-term savings by reducing the need for chemical disinfectants and manual cleaning efforts.
Enhanced safety: Regular use of UVC light can help maintain a healthier environment, potentially reducing absenteeism due to illness.

Implementing UVC light in your business

To effectively incorporate UVC light into your disinfection protocols, consider the following steps:

Assess your space: Evaluate the size and layout of your premises to determine the appropriate UVC equipment needed.
Choose the right products: Select UVC devices that are suitable for your environment, whether it's a mobile steriliser for flexible use or ceiling-mounted units for continuous operation.
Follow safety guidelines: Ensure that all UVC equipment is used according to manufacturer instructions to prevent exposure to harmful UV radiation.
Integrate into routine cleaning: Incorporate UVC disinfection into your regular cleaning schedule to maintain consistent hygiene standards.

By adopting UVC light technology, businesses can enhance their disinfection efforts, providing a safer environment for all. At Cooltech UVC, we offer a range of UVC sanitising solutions designed to meet the diverse needs of various industries. Our products are lab-tested and proven to achieve high kill rates against pathogens, including viruses like HMPV.

Investing in UVC disinfection not only demonstrates a commitment to health and safety but also positions your business as a responsible and proactive entity in the face of emerging health threats.

Can UVC hygiene take the strain of the next crop of diseases?

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 12:28:54 GMT

UVC light is a powerful and potent killer of bacteria, viruses, spores, moulds and other pathogens, so will it also be able to help halt the spread of the new crop of diseases the WHO is warning us about for next year?

Every pathogen has to be tested, of course, to see if it really can be killed by UVC light, but the signs are very good indeed. This type of light, at this special wavelength, is deadly to so many communicable diseases, it's likely to kill those on the WHO's latest hit list as well. As the festive season approaches, let's explore the risks humanity faces in 2025.

17 threats on the World Health Organization's latest vaccine development list

The WHO has listed 17 disease-causing bacteria, viruses and parasites as top priorities for new vaccine development going forwards. It's the first ever study to globally assess and prioritise these common diseases based on how badly they affect our health regionally and globally.

So far the focus of vaccine research has been on commerce, with profit put first. This new WHO report focuses on humanity's needs, not profit. They asked international and regional experts for their vaccine research and development priorities based on disease, deaths, their socioeconomic impact and any existing disease resistance.

The resulting list reflects the needs of diverse populations across the planet, revealing ten top priority pathogens for each of the WHO’s six regions. When combined the global list contains 17 urgent common pathogens that are already endemic, already needing urgent action.

Three of the most deadly, which together kill almost two and a half million of us a year, are HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, and these remain long standing priorities for vaccine research
Joining the list for 2025 is Group A streptococcus, a severe infection that contributes to 280,000 deaths a year from rheumatic heart disease in poorer nations
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a newbie, a bacteria associated with 790,000 deaths in 2019 alone and, in poor countries, responsible for 40% of deaths in newborns thanks to sepsis

The full WHO Priority endemic pathogens list

We need vaccine research for these:

Group A streptococcus – UVC is already proved to kill Streptococcus faecalis ATCC29212 and Streptococcus viridans
Hepatitis C virus – UVC kills both Hepatitis A HM175 and Infectious Hepatitis
HIV-1
Klebsiella pneumoniae – UVC kills both Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella terrigena ATCC33257

Vaccines for these need more work:

Cytomegalovirus
Influenza virus (broadly protective vaccine) – UVC kills the Influenza virus
Leishmania species
Non-typhoidal Salmonella – UVC already kills Salmonella anatum, derby, enteritidis, infantis, paratyphi, typhosa and typhimurium
Norovirus – UVC kills norovirus
Plasmodium falciparum (malaria)
Shigella species – UVC kills Shigella dyseteriae, flexneri, paradysenteriae, and sonnei ATCC9290 Staphylococcus aureus, which UVC kills along with Staphylococcus albus, hemolyticus, aureus phage A and lactis

These vaccines are almost there, on the brink of approval, recommendation or introduction:

Dengue virus
Group B streptococcus – UVC kills Streptococcus faecalis ATCC29212 and Streptococcus viridans
Extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli – UVC kills Escherichia coli O157:H7 CCUG 29193 and O157:H7
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

The extra risks posed by mass displacement

With wars currently displacing millions of people, leaving them in conditions with poor hygiene, vaccines are even more important than ever. Experts say the number of people on the move is going to increase because of poverty, lack of food security, no access to basic healthcare, water shortages, climate change, environments being destroyed, and natural disasters.

Refugees and migrants' health issues are made worse by a lack of hospitals, medicines and doctors plus language barriers, different cultures, discrimination, social and economic exclusion, poverty, homelessness and exploitation, all of which make disease more likely and will help spread diseases faster.

Different ways for diseases to spread

Pathogens are transmitted to humans in different ways, originating in different animals. The source of SARS-CoV-2, for example, is still a mystery, although bats and pangolins are probably its natural hosts. Both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV originate in bats, SARS-CoV transmitted to humans by the Palm Civet and MERS-CoV by Arabian camels.

Filoviruses originate in bats before being spread to humans by wildlife. Rift Valley fever virus comes from mosquitoes, spread to humans by cows. Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever virus originates in ticks before being spread to humans by cows and other domestic animals. Lassa fever virus (LASV) originates in a kind of mouse, Zika virus comes from mosquitoes, Nipah comes from bats and is spread to humans via pigs, the list goes on.

How does UVC disinfection help in this complex context?

UVC light safely kills pathogens quickly and efficiently in the air and on every surface it touches. This makes our UVC hygiene units an excellent choice for healthcare settings, which is why it is already used by so many hospitals around the world and has been relied on for so many decades.

Bring safe, clean, effective UVC hygiene to your healthcare business, food production business or any other setting where hygiene is critical and you'll enjoy low cost tech that's easy to fit, costs next to nothing to run because the light is emitted by LEDs, and contains no nasty chemicals. It's a dazzlingly good way to keep people safe from disease.

PS. We'd like to wish our customers a happy, profitable and peaceful Christmas and an excellent 2025.

Two horrible bacteria killed FAST by UVC light

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:45:18 GMT

Our UVC Kill List is long and impressive, testament to how good UV light at this special wavelength is at killing pathogens and other infectious agents stone dead, fast. This time we’re taking a tour of two spores you really don’t want in your life: Bacillus anthracis - also known as Anthrax - and Clostridioides difficile - also called C. Diff.

Protect your business with our UVC hygiene units and if either of these horrors finds its way indoors, it won’t be able to make employees ill or put your customers at risk.

About Bacillus anthracis – the spore that causes anthrax

Anthrax can cause severe illness in people and animals, and the bacterium that causes it lives naturally in the soil everywhere on our planet. It usually gets passed onto humans via infected animals or contaminated animal products. Maybe you breathe anthrax spores in, eat food or drink water contaminated with the spores, or it finds its way under your skin via a graze or cut.

The type of illness that develops depends on how the anthrax spores get into your body in the first place: the skin, lungs, or gastrointestinal system. If left untreated, however it gets in, the illness can kill.

Cutaneous Anthrax happens when the spores get into a cut or graze and under the skin, often when someone’s handling animal wool, hair or hide. This is the commonest and also the least dangerous type of infection. First you see itchy blisters or bumps, then a big swelling at the source of the infection followed by large painless circular lumps with an ugly black centre on the face, arms hands or neck.

Gastrointestinal Anthrax is caught by eating raw or undercooked meat from an infected animal, and it’s relatively rare in the West. It affects the throat, oesophagus, stomach and intestines. You get fever and chills, swollen neck glands and a sore throat, which give way to hoarseness, nausea and vomiting or bloody vomit, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, a headache, red face and eyes, a painful swollen stomach and fainting spells.

Inhalation Anthrax happens when you breathes anthrax spores into your lungs, the most deadly type of all and found in workplaces like mills, slaughterhouses and tanneries. It starts off in the lymph nodes in the chest then spreads to the rest of the body. You first get fever and chills, then heavy sweating followed by a painful chest and a cough or difficulties breathing. Confusion, dizziness, head and body aches, then nausea and vomiting, stomach pains and extreme exhaustion follow.

Welder’s Anthrax has only just been discovered, a rare disease found in metalworkers. It causes serious pneumonia and can be fatal, kicking off with fever, chills, a sudden cough and chest pain, leading to breathing difficulties and even coughing up blood.

However you catch it, anthrax can show up anything from just one day to two months after exposure, which sometimes makes it a challenge to pin down the source.

About Clostridioides difficile – C. diff

C. diff causes diarrhea and inflammation of the colon, and it too can be deadly. It can infect anyone of any age and mostly turns up when you've been taking antibiotics for something else. It’s the biggest cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitalised people.

You’re as much as 10 times more likely to get C. diff while on antibiotics and for a month afterwards.

Because antibiotics kill all bacteria, not just the dangerous ones, the worst infections are given a window of opportunity to thrive. The longer you take antibiotics the greater the risk of catching C. Diff, and people aged over 65 and those with a compromised immune system are at the most risk.

The bacterium causes around 14,000 cases a year in the UK and one in six people get it for a second time 2-8 weeks later. One in eleven people die within a month of having the disease. Diarrhea, fever and a tender or painful stomach join a poor appetite and nausea to make you feel awful. In a serious case the complications include dehydration, colitis, toxic megacolon or even sepsis, which can kill.

Found in excrement as well as floating around in the indoor environment, the dormant spores can last for years. Only when they get inside the intestines do they activate to cause illness. It’s treated with special antibiotics like vancomycin or fidaxomicin, taken for at least 10 days. You might have to go to hospital and if you’ve had it once, you can easily get it several more times.

C. diff tends to turn up in healthcare settings like hospitals and nursing homes, which is why so many healthcare businesses already use UVC light to keep patients, staff and visitors safe.

Stop worrying, start using our UVC disinfection units

Low cost, easy to fit, low on energy use with little or no maintenance, our UVC units are proven to kill both of these nasties in minutes, in the air and on every surface the light touches. If your business could be affected by either disease, get in touch for an inspiring conversation about killing both of them along with a multitude more spores, bacteria, viruses and moulds.

Covid, RSV and Flu

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:00:01 GMT

“None of us are truly prepared unless all of us are prepared in our pursuit of global health security and resilience against future shocks.”

Ebere Okereke and colleagues, British Medical Journal

In a week when Al Pacino revealed he briefly died from covid in 2020, left without a pulse for several minutes, we’re taking a look at this winter’s covid, flu and RSV situation.

While covid isn’t seasonal like colds and flu, it does tend to pop up more often at this time of year simply because people are starting to spend more time indoors together in the colder weather, and the schools have gone back after the summer holidays. The same goes for RSV. Here’s what’s happening right now.

Pleas for vulnerable people to have flu and covid jabs

NHS chiefs are saying they’re ‘particularly keen’ for pregnant women, people aged over 65, people in care homes and other vulnerable individuals to have their flu and covid jabs. Apparently eligible people are already being contacted and asked to turn up at walk-in sessions and pharmacies.

Dr Virginia Ashman is the clinical lead for the UK’s autumn immunisation programme. She says those who are vulnerable can easily become ‘seriously unwell’ and might need hospital treatment. She adds that being vaccinated will provide the ‘best possible protection against both viruses and is especially important to do before winter sets in’ so the vaccine has the time it needs to settle into the body and do its work.

NHS warns of a ‘tripledemic’ where RSV, flu and covid overlap

The NHS is warning people to protect themselves from a potential ‘tripledemic’ over the winter. The latest stats from the UKHSA show how covid cases have risen sharply by 21.6% with a 50.6% increase in covid deaths up to September 20th. This sits against a background of at least 18,000 flu-related and 19,500 or so covid related deaths over the past two winters. The covid surge is down to the latest variant, XEC, which is already well on the way to becoming the latest dominant variant.

Doctor Joseph Ambani says the new covid variant, which is currently surging across the UK, has the potential to fuel a tripledemic this winter. Another doctor worries that the new variant could mean we need to return to masks and distancing in high risk settings and on public transport, saying the new strain has ‘significant potential’ to trigger a crippling tripledemic of flu, RSV, and Covid.

He also says that unlike previous variants, the way XEC evades the immune system could increase the risk of co-infections, ie. overlapping infections where a person catches more than one or all three winter infections at once. He’s also concerned that if this happens it could place a very severe burden on the NHS, especially on Intensive Care Units.

Covid rates in the North East are rising

The north east of England is suffering from a particularly high covid rate right now, with the highest rate of covid hospital admissions in the country during late September, more than double the national average. Medics up there are also concerned because they’re seeing an increase in winter respiratory infections in general.

A tough flu season Down Under hints the same could happen here

We could be in for a particularly difficult flu season, as hinted at by the situation in Australia, which is always a good indicator of what’ll probably happen here. The latest Australian winter saw more flu cases than their usual five year average.

About RSV

The RSV respiratory virus was first found in chimps in 1956 and had made its way into children by 1957. In the USA it accounts for around 160,000 hospitalisations a year. The covid emergency interrupted the creation of an RSV vaccine and while it can be a very risky illness, people are still a lot less aware of it than they are about covid and flu.

As recently as 18 months ago there was no vaccine for RSV. Now there is. It was approved by the USA’s FDA in May 2023 and lauded as “an important public health achievement to prevent a disease which can be life-threatening.” But in spring this year fewer than 25% of eligible US adults had bothered to get their jab. Hopefully we’ll do better here in the UK.

Our own RSV vaccine programme was launched in Scotland in August, followed by rollouts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in September. Pharmacies in Essex and Suffolk have been the first to offer the new jab against respiratory syncytial virus and over a thousand appointments were made during the first week, mostly older people and pregnant women.

Kill covid and a multitude of other viruses, bacteria and pathogens FAST

Clean, safe, fast and highly effective UVC light at a special wavelength has been used in healthcare settings for more than half a century. Our units kill a host of horrible diseases quickly and efficiently. They’re easy to use, don’t cost much and barely use any energy, since the light is generated by cool, safe LED bulbs. If you’d like to keep your employees, visitors, customers and suppliers safe and healthy, let’s talk.

Infectious disease alert

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:37:19 GMT

You need UVC sanitising solutions

As we dive into autumn we’re re-entering the season when traditional cold weather illnesses spike. There’s the usual round of flu, the winter sickness bug norovoris, the common cold, RSV, and of course covid which, while it tends to surge in summer, also hits us in cold weather simply because we spend more time together indoors.

This season there are also mpox warnings popping up in several countries and Ecoli, which menaces us all year round, is also in the news. So let’s take a look at the nasty winter 2024 illnesses that clean, safe, simple UVC light is so good at killing.

The progress of mpox in the UK and elsewhere

Because the illness can be asymptomatic for as long as 17 days, mpox can be hard to spot early. India recently reported its first suspected case, someone who’d travelled from elsewhere and brought it with him. He’s been isolated in a designated hospital, and is reported to be stable. The Indian government has already issued a directive suggesting mpox screening, testing, and contact tracing, public health preparedness is under review, and they’re busy getting vaccines ready just in case.

In Malaysia they’ve been busy with extensive testing. So far they’ve been lucky, with 46 suspected cases all turning out to be negative. So far they’ve screened an impressive 5.2 million people at airports and other ‘international entry points’ since mid-August.

As reported by The Mirror, here in the UK health chiefs are urging UK schools to follow new guidance because half of all UK mpox cases are being found in children.

We had some cases of the more dangerous variant, clade 1b, here in 2022, the same strain that’s now active in Africa and Sweden. Meanwhile the World Health Organisation has called the spread a ‘public health emergency’.

In another piece of worrying news, a document written by the UKHSA says there might already be a ‘more serious strain’ of mpox circulating in the UK. Meantime, scientists are trying to find out if, like covid, mpox comes with long term health ongoing effects like Long Covid. So far the jury’s still out.

E. coli turns up in more places than ever

E. coli is surging in the UK, mostly directly down to water companies’ neglect of the sewerage infrastructure they’re supposed to maintain. 288 cases were confirmed in July alone. Now, new data reveals dangerously high levels in Bristol's Floating Harbour.

A group of citizen scientists in Cornwall say their water quality tests show dangerous amounts of e. coli at St Agnes beach, previously given an ‘excellent’ bill of health by the Environment Agency. Another piece of research, this time by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, investigated a UK e. coli outbreak and identified contaminated lettuce as the most likely source. Heavy rain had probably carried the infection from farm animal poo to the lettuce in the fields. Because climate change means more heavy rain is on the way - the new normal - there could be ‘increased impacts on health and food security’.

RSV is hitting the elderly harder

A team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA has shown how vaccinating people aged 60 and above against Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV ‘substantially reduces’ their risk of having to go to hospital.

It matters because RSV was previously thought to affect infants and toddlers worst of all. But RSV in older people, COPD sufferers and those with a compromised immune system comes with the same sort of symptoms as flu, and like covid it can lead to hospitalisation with complications like bronchitis and pneumonia.

And finally – where’s covid at right now?

The UK Covid inquiry has resumed, now delving into how managers led the pandemic response, the role of primary care and GPs, NHS backlogs, and how the vaccine programme was integrated. Meanwhile, as £15 billion-worth of ‘profound’ corruption has comes to light over covid, the disease itself is still circulating.

The USA is currently suffering a ’huge’ late summer covid spike. Two schools in Alabama and Tennessee have shut down days into the new term began thanks to an ‘uptick' in covid cases. A report in New Scientist magazine says that unlike flu, RSV and norovirus, covid cases worldwide have risen every summer. As far as the UK goes? There are no actual news reports about the current status of covid, although you can check out the latest numbers on the government website.

UVC hygiene is a super power

UVC light, at a certain special wavelength, kills a huge collection of viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and more in just minutes. That’s why it has been used in healthcare settings for so many decades. Now you can fit simple, affordable UVC disinfection units into existing light fittings, in aircon units and elsewhere, designed to keep people safe from infection. In today’s world, with climate change on the rampage and some infectious diseases flourishing, it’s well worth considering for your business.

About the latest mpox outbreak

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:37:10 GMT

About the latest mpox outbreak

For decades mpox stayed at home in Central and West Africa. Most Clade 1 cases came from Central Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with almost all Clade 2 cases, the less-serious version of the disease, found in Nigeria.

In 2022 the Clade 2 virus started spreading across Europe and North America. We had a WHO Clade 2 mpox warning in July 2022, which lasted to May 2023. Now Sweden has confirmed one case of the more dangerous Clade 1 version of the viral infection, just one day after the WHO declared it a global public health emergency. Apparently the person who caught it had spent time in an area of Africa where a lot of people had caught it, and this is the first case ever diagnosed outside Africa.

At the moment ‘Clade Ib’ is spreading fast in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has already reached four African countries that have never been affected by the virus before. Overall mpox cases have been reported in at least 13 African countries. WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the risk of it spreading out of Africa to other continents is “very worrying.” Other experts say the Africa outbreak is probably just the tip of the iceberg because we don’t yet have the full picture. As you can imagine, the world is watching.

About mpox infection

The Mpox virus, AKA monkeypox, is related to the extinct smallpox virus. The disease spreads via close physical contact but can also spread through contaminated bed sheets, clothes and needles.

At first it feels a lot like flu, with a fever, tiredness, chills, headaches and weak muscles. Then a painful or itchy rash turns up, which inflames then forms scabs that take weeks to die down.

Clade 1 causes a more serious form of the disease. The subtype causing concern at the moment is called Clade 1b, which is relatively new, a mutation that has adapted itself to be more easily transmitted by humans and create bigger outbreaks.

Because we’re currently seeing multiple overlapping outbreaks of different Clades in various countries, each with slightly different transmission and level of seriousness, things are very uncertain.

Some outbreaks of Clade 1 mpox have killed as many as 10% of people who catch it. Several recent outbreaks have come with the lower death rates associated with Clade 2 disease, 0.2% or so. But some people, including babies and small children, pregnant women and those with badly weakened immune systems, are more likely to suffer from a serious infection from either Clade.

What do we know about mpox spreading?

One of the biggest issues is the resources needed to diagnose and treat mpox, which are spread far too thin in Africa for comfort. Even taking a simple sample in a remote rural area and sending it to a lab is a real challenge. This, and the fact that only the most severe cases might be detected, makes it hard to know what’s happening now and even harder to predict what happens next.

This time around the geographic pattern of outbreak is different from 2022-23. It’s reaching more countries than before, even though the vast majority of cases are being found in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

International travel is once more under the spotlight, and the old saying we all became so familiar with during covid is resurfacing: nobody is safe until everybody is safe. There are worries that because it’s mostly in Africa at the moment, rich western nations might not take the threat seriously enough or care enough about stamping it out before it’s too late.

Is there an mpox vaccine?

There’s a vaccine for mpox but it isn’t easily accessible in Africa. Experts say people in the USA at risk of catching it need to get vaccinated just in case. In the meantime the Vaccine Alliance has a maximum of $500 million to spend on sending mpox vaccines to the African countries affected by the current outbreak - but they’re not due to start stockpiling a global vaccine supply until 2026.

The WHO says vaccines are only the tip of the iceberg anyway. We’ll also need more surveillance, more diagnostics and more knowledge about the virus itself, which currently comes with ‘gaps in understanding.’ The WHO itself has half a million doses of vaccine in stock, with potential for another 2.4 million doses to be made by the end of 2024, and Nigeria and the DRC are first in the queue.

Can UVC light kill the mpox virus?

There’s no scientific reason why UVC sanitising tech can’t kill the mpox virus, in exactly the same way as it kills a long list of other viruses – including covid, flu and the common cold – as well as dangerous bacteria, moulds, spores, protozoa and yeasts.

If you’d like to protect your employees, suppliers, partners, visitors, guests and customers from infections, illnesses and diseases, and keep your business open while others are forced to close, let’s talk about how our UVC light units can help. They’re widely used in numerous settings, including healthcare, and they form a vital line of defence.

Experts are worried about Covid - “Another wave is building”

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:06:40 GMT

Professor Steve Griffin at Leeds University is worried about Covid. In his words, “Another wave is building.”

The fact that comparatively few people bothered to have their spring booster jab could make things a lot worse because, in his words, “There is a considerable difference between the current vaccines and circulating viruses." So has Covid complacency put us in danger?

We’re all going to catch multiple Covid infections

Covid is just like the common cold. It keeps on morphing, leaving vaccines lagging behind, making them ever-less effective as time passes and new variants arise. This diminishing immunity of the general population is one reason why Covid is spreading again. And it looks like that’s where the future lies. According to Paul Hunter, an epidemiology expert at the University of East Anglia, we’re all going to catch Covid repeatedly, from birth to death, in exactly the same way as we catch the common cold.

How the new Covid wave is progressing

Right now the UK is on the brink of a wave. Covid deaths rose by 26.4% in the week leading to 7th June, going from 110 to 139. In the week leading to 12th June cases rose by 7.8%, with 2053 people reporting infections. Covid-led hospital admissions shot up from 2.67 people per 100,000 to 3.31 per 100,000. On 26th June testing revealed 1 in 25,000 people were probably infected.

Today’s variants aren’t as dangerous as older variants

On the bright side, the severity of the illness itself has dropped significantly despite the surge in infections and hospitalisations driven by the new variants KP2, KP3 and J1, known collectively as FLiRT.

The UKHSA is keeping a close eye on the new strains and the latest government advice is to self-isolate for 5 days if you catch any of them, keeping it under control and helping vulnerable people stay safe. There’s a new map to check, to see how the wave is going in your area. You can check it out here.

Age and vulnerability still matters

Most people being hospitalised so far are in the 85 plus age group and there are increases in other age groups too, for people aged 75 – 84 and 65 – 74. We’re also seeing more cases in most of the younger age groups, which is concerning because it’s summertime. Hopefully the wave will be over by the time the winter arrives, when flu, colds and Covid tend to spread faster because we’re all indoors.

A timely reminder that UVC light kills Covid FAS

This is the perfect time to remind everyone who runs a business that our UVC light units, which run on a special wavelength that kills a huge number of pathogens, kills Covid fast. And that means it’s a reliable way to keep your employees healthy, minimise sick days, keep production going, keep visitors and suppliers who visit your place safe and, of course, protect your customers if you run a public-facing company.

Our UVC sanitising units also happen to be a bargain to buy, easy to fit and retrofit, super-cheap to run because they use LEDs to generate the light, and come with barely any maintenance. Some of them are fitted, others are portable. We have special units for vehicle disinfection, and even an in-duct air purification probe.

Covid clearly isn’t going to go away, nor are most of the other pathogens on our Kill List. If you’d like to relax in the knowledge you’re doing everything possible to keep people safe from all these illnesses, give us a call or email us to arrange a chat.

May-June 2024 UK Ecoli outbreak remains a mystery

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 13:50:53 GMT

Ecoli is on the march again

“Whole genome sequencing of samples in the current investigation indicates that most cases are part of a single outbreak. Based on the wide geographic spread of cases, it is most likely that this outbreak is linked to a nationally distributed food item or multiple food items. The source of this outbreak is not yet confirmed but there is currently no evidence linking the outbreak to open farms, drinking water or swimming in contaminated seawater, lakes or rivers. The public health agencies are working with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland to investigate further.”

UKHSA

Ecoli is back, affecting people across the nation. The UK Health Security Agency says testing indicates most of the 113 cases belong to a single outbreak.

So far the illness has affected 81 people in England, 18 in Wales, 13 in Scotland, and one person in Northern Ireland who had recently visited England. The UKHSA says the numbers of confirmed cases associated with the outbreak are expected to rise once more samples have been whole-genome sequenced.

What’s the source of the latest UK ecoli outbreak?

One expert, Professor Hugh Pennington from the University of Aberdeen, speculates it might be down to a ready-to-eat food item containing dairy products. Under cooked meat can cause the illness but because it’s unlikely so many people would have failed to cook their food properly at the same time, meat is probably not the source. Professor Pennington says it’s more likely to come from food that doesn’t need to be cooked before it’s eaten – in other words something ready-made.

Dairy products are a common source of ecoli, including cheese and ice cream. But as the Professor says ‘any food that is processed could in theory be contaminated’. The virus can also be carried by cattle, sheep and other livestock, spread to humans via an infected animal or their poo. But there’s more. In Cambridgeshire people who had been boating on the river Cam fell violently ill after coming into contact with the water at Sheep's Green, where ecoli levels apparently spiked. Whatever the cause, the latest ecoli outbreak has hospitalised at least 37 people. And while scientists are working on it, they might never uncover the source.

River safety shenanigans

The river Cam outbreak led the authorities to issue an urgent warming to people not to paddle at the tourist hotspot. The warning makes a lot of sense when levels of the ecoli bacteria at Sheep's Green were a worrying six times the approved level.

This too is a bit of a mystery, especially since the river was praised on 13th May this year as being safe to bathe in, against the advice of people in the Friends of the Cam group. They’re just one of several groups that have been taking water samples that prove the river is ‘heavily polluted’. Locals say the contamination comes from sewage flowing out from an Anglian Water plant, made worse by farm run-off further up the river. Anglian water says it’s investigating.

Kill ecoli stone dead in seconds with clean, safe UVC light

The UVC light at the wavelength we use in our UVC disinfection units kills both Escherichia coli O157:H7 CCUG 29193 and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in seconds. It’s used in water purification plants to make water safe to drink, and has been used in healthcare settings like hospitals for decades to keep people safe from a very long list of pathogens including viruses and bacteria.

If you’d like to disinfect your food facility quickly and effectively, whether it’s a production line or a sandwich shop, we can help with affordable, simple, cheap to run units that do exactly that.

Humanity’s worst infectious killer, measles, bird flu in cows

Thu, 23 May 2024 11:18:34 GMT

TB, the human race’s most serious infectious disease, is on the march again. Measles is affecting the UK. And over in the USA, bird flu has crossed into cows and has made its way into one human. At the same time a new study says climate change and biodiversity loss sit at the heart of infectious disease outbreaks.

We are fighting climate change in the long term. In the short term UVC disinfection delivers a reliable way to fight infectious diseases in hospitals, care homes, and in fact everywhere people gather indoors. Here’s the news.

TB kills 3,600 of us every day

UVC light at the wavelength used in our Ultraviolet UV disinfection units kills the Mycobacterium tuberculosis stone dead within seconds. Which is just as well when it remains one of the most serious health threats humanity faces.

10.6 million of us caught TB in 2022 alone and 1.5 million were killed by it. TB is effectively one of the planet’s oldest, longest-lasting pandemics, killing humans for at least 40,000 years. It has beaten our immune systems time and time again, and continues to do so. To this day it remains stubborn, sneaky, and very hard to beat.

Covid overtook TB in the charts for a while, now TB is back in the number one spot. Sometimes it’s still treatable with antibiotics, other times it’s impossible to shift, evolved into something sinister that resists even the most powerful drugs. The only vaccine we have is 100 years old and only partially effective, working well in children but useless for adults. And it doesn’t even protect people against the disease’s most common form.

On the bright side tests are about to begin on a new vaccine called M72/AS01E. Experts are hoping the field trials in South Africa will have positive results in real world circumstances, outside the lab. The trial is set to last five years. In the meantime, our proven UVC hygiene units will kill TB off in no time along with a huge list of other bacteria and viruses, nasty spores, moulds and yeasts.

Measles spreads in the UK

If you’re old enough to have had measles as a child, you might know how horrible it can be. A friend of ours had a 105 degree temperature for two days and was hallucinating huge spiders on the ceiling of her bedroom. She nearly died. That was in Yorkshire, in 1974. Now Scotland's measles cases are on the up with 11 cases so far in 2024 compared to one in 2023. It might not seem like many but it’s a worrying trend. And a recent London outbreak made 74 people ill, the highest concentration of measles in England.

In the words of Community Pharmacy Scotland, “A few measles cases have been reported across other parts of the UK and Europe this year. While there have been very few recent cases of measles in Scotland, there remains a risk of infection in those who have only received one dose, or no doses, of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Having two doses of the MMR vaccine is the best way to be fully protected against measles."

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness and as such, it’s highly likely it’ll be killed off just as fast as other viruses killed by UVC disinfection technology. In the words of Professor Kevin Esvelt, a biologist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “We have so much data suggesting that this is far and away the most impactful technology, when it comes to protecting people from infectious disease today.”

At the same time the HSE has issued an urgent alert to people who visited Cork University Hospital recently, because they might have been in contact with the measles virus. They’ve been asked to keep an eye open for measles symptoms for a full 21 days after their visit.

Bird flu spreads to cows in the USA

There’s a multi-state bird flu outbreak in dairy cows across the USA right now, the first time the HPAI A (H5N1) strain has jumped to cattle. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says one farm worker in Texas has been infected. Now they’re monitoring more than 100 people – mostly farm workers – for infection.

Avian influenza A viruses do infect people now and again, so it isn’t a disaster... yet. But it’s extremely rare and this is just the second time it has happened in North America. The risk to people is apparently low so far, but because the mortality rate is horribly high at about 50%, and there’s a ‘strong likelihood’ of another pandemic where an animal disease goes human, the world’s health professionals are on alert.

Biodiversity loss is the biggest driver of infectious disease

A new study reveals biodiversity loss as the single biggest cause of infectious disease outbreaks, which are steadily increasing and worsening around the globe. The work, called A Meta-Analysis on Global Change Drivers and the Risk of Infectious Disease, was published in Nature magazine.

New infectious diseases often start off in wild animals. There are five key points at which change drives more and worse outbreaks. All of them destroy ecosystems. Biodiversity loss comes top, followed by climate change, non-native species, chemical pollution and habitat loss.

Stay safe, stay open, keep people healthy

There are so many health threats circulating. The way humanity runs the world is actually supporting the catastrophic diseases that threaten us. We have to sort ourselves out, but that could take decades. While we’re doing that, UVC disinfection remains the simplest, most effective way to kill a huge variety of pathogens before they make us ill.

If you’d like to fit them in your business, let’s talk. You’ll find our tech affordable, simple, easy to use and incredibly effective.

Zap! How to kill pathogens in food production with UVC light

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 13:09:19 GMT

The Met Office is predicting the hottest year so far for the UK, potentially beating 2023’s record highs. And that means the food industry is at risk once more since ingredients and perishable foods are more likely to be infected by pathogens when the weather’s hot than they are under normal conditions.

So what can you do, as a player in the food sector, to keep your premises safe, your products fit for consumption, and the risk of food poisoning at bay? As it turns out, there’s a low cost, high impact way to stop pathogens in their tracks, and it’s fast becoming essential for the food industry as the climate keeps on warming.

Bacteria love hot weather

Bacteria thrive in environments of 4C to 60C and can potentially double in number in just 20 minutes. They grow faster during the summer – and during heatwaves - because of the hot and humid conditions. And that’s why there’s such a strong link between climate change and food borne infections.

The food borne illnesses you want to control

Take Cyclospora, a tiny parasite that causes intestinal infections, transmitted through food contaminated with sewage, often vegetables and fruit. Warm weather means Cyclospora infections peak during summer along with Campylobacter, Vibrio, STEC E. coli, Cyptosporidium, Listeria and Shigella. Most cause an upset stomach, many lead to severe diarrhea, dehydration and vomiting, some people also suffer meningitis and organ failure. Then there’s the incurable Ciguatera, which turns up in imported fish. It can leave you with numb, tingling or paralysed fingers, legs and toes for years afterwards.

Mass food poisoning incidents

This year we’ve seen a mass food poisoning incident at Lewes prison in Sussex, where six people were rushed to hospital. Then Manchester City football team was hit with an outbreak of food poisoning after visiting Spain to play Real Madrid in the Champions League. We also discovered how as many as one in fifteen fresh supermarket chickens are 'highly contaminated'. Even Waitrose, known for good quality, exceeded the Campylobacter safe level target during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Safety measures like warning labels and product recalls can help slow the spread of harmful food-borne bacteria and parasites, but obviously it’s best not to end up in the situation in the first place.

Disinfect your food business fast, easily and safely at LOW cost

There’s some remarkable cooling technology available that costs a fraction of traditional aircon , which helps keep things to safe temperature in factories and other food sector settings, but that doesn’t get rid of invisible food borne pathogens once they’ve found a way into your premises, ingredients, aircon system or products.

To kill them off before they can cause harm you need UVC light tech, which kills a very long list of viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and other pathogens in seconds , cleanly, safely and reliably. The tech has been used in healthcare settings for decades, proven to work and remarkably powerful.

Shine a UVC unit above your production line, for example, to keep perishable products like meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs and any other food that’s prone to infection safe so it doesn’t poison your customers, ruin your foodservice customers’ reputations, end up in a costly product recall, or even lead to legal action for liability.

So how do our UVC disinfecting units work?

For a start we have a variety of units for different settings, including a brilliant in-duct air purification probe. Together our UVC purification lights, mobile sterilisers, vehicle sterilisers, ceiling purification lamps, ceiling air circulation purification lamps and surface and air purification lamps meet the needs of every food sector context, from factory to production line, sandwich shop to supermarket to deli.

The units are low cost to buy and use very little energy because they generate UVC light using cool, mercury-free LED bulbs. They’re very simple so there’s more or less no maintenance. They’re easy and safe to use. And they’re environmentally responsible, with no nasty chemicals whatsoever. Just bright, pure, powerful UVC light at a wavelength that kills pathogens in a few short minutes.

Every food business is unique, of course, so we’ll specify the perfect set-up for your premises. If you’d like to know more, contact us for a no-obligation discussion that could make your food sector life a whole lot safer no matter how hot it gets.

UVC Light benefits the equine industry - From stable to office

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:49:46 GMT

Here in the UK we stand at the forefront of international equine breeding, and the sector provides almost 20,000 jobs to the economy. When a disease raises its ugly head horses have to be isolated and can’t compete. The last thing you need is a disease on the premises.

A major outbreak of equine flu had serious implications for horses and their owners, followed by an equally serious outbreak of equine herpes virus that prevented almost 4000 horses from competing, blocked on the Federation Equine International list. It also led to international competitions being shut down in twelve EU nations.

So it’s great to know UVC technology comes with all sort of benefits for the equine industry, keeping facilities safer for the horses themselves as well as for the people who care for and work with them. Here’s how our brilliant UVC tech will help future-proof your equine business while your competitors struggle.

UV Sanitization for equine businesses

Our simple, low cost, highly effective UVC tech can be used to sanitize high traffic areas and high touch areas, places like offices and show facilities. A mobile room UV sterilizer might be your best choice to kill bacteria, moulds and viruses across the premises, or one or more fixed units of different types. You might find a unit fixed inside the ventilation and air conditioning ducts will make a big difference, or you might go for a combination.

You can fit our UVC sanitization units in any room where you want to disinfect the air and surfaces. UVC lamps at the right wavelength will disinfect a room in just a few minutes to give you a safer premises, a place with reliably pathogen-free air. The rays eliminate 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, moulds and other threats to human and horse health. Turn the units on and they start killing pathogens instantly.

Equine biosecurity for stables

Horse-led businesses face a constant risk of infectious diseases, particularly those transmitted via aerosol pathogens like Equine Influenza, Equine Herpes virus and Streptococcus Equi, also called Strangles. The tech also benefits horse quarantine facilities.

While there isn’t a lot of research about UVC light’s ability to kill off equine-specific strains of herpes and flu, there’s a wealth of studies, evidence and research revealing how well UVC light inactivates viruses, bacteria and fungi in general, and human forms of flu and streptococcus. There’s absolutely no scientific reason to think it doesn’t have the same impact on horse diseases.

Your equine business is unique – and so is our solution

Our units give you a convenient way to expose enclosed areas where horses gather and live to the UVC light that kills equine diseases. Every project is unique so the first step is to establish exactly what you need at your place, something we do as a matter of course.

Once you’ve eliminated aerosol and surface pathogens, the risk of them spreading from human to horse and horse-to-horse plummets. UV light complements your physical cleaning perfectly, too. You can shine it on grooming tools, tack and feed buckets as well as surfaces and the air, so they don’t end up becoming disease carriers.

All of our devices create a controlled UVC zone where the air is continuously disinfected, and because they’re designed with safety in mind neither horses nor humans can be over exposed to the light.

Equine business? Make the premises even safer for horses and people

Give us a call if you’d like to know more about how UVC will keep your business going when others are forced to stop until an equine disease runs its course. We think you’ll find it an inspiring conversation.

UV light disinfection for childcare and schools

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:14:02 GMT

Schools and childcare settings are particularly vulnerable to infections. So what can you do to minimise the spread of infectious illnesses at your childcare setting or school?

Kids spend a lot of time mixing closely with other children in places like childcare, pre-school nurseries, and schools. If one child catches a cold, norovirus, scarlet fever, salmonella, chicken pox, covid, flu or anything else, everyone else catches it in record time, along with the teachers and auxiliary staff like cooks, cleaners and caretakers.

Spread by direct contact between children via food, by touching infectious surfaces or breathing in infected air droplets, a wave of something as simple as a bad cold can send a school or nursery into a rough spin. In a world where time is money, illness in childcare settings can quickly have a dramatic impact on the business’s finances.

Very young children - infants and toddlers – are the most likely to use their hands to wipe their noses or rub their eyes before handling toys or touching other children, sending a virus from the nose or eyes of one child via hands or toys to the next child and so on. Because children get sick a lot in the first several years of life naturally, as their bodies build immunity to infections, the risk of a business-limiting illness is particularly high in childcare settings.

There isn’t always space to keep a poorly child separate from the others while their parents are on the way to pick them up. If several children get ill at once it can be very difficult to cope without it spreading faster and further. Even with sensible prevention measures, it’s likely some infections will spread anyway.

The current surge of whooping cough, with cases at a ten year high, is leading officials to advise people to stay away from work and children away from school if they’re infected. In Bulgaria a serious flu epidemic is closing schools, which are pivoting to online learning like they did during covid. Invasive Strep A infections are on the rise right now in some countries, mumps in others. And covid is making itself felt in Scotland, sending teachers off sick as well as pupils.

All this means it’s wise to do everything possible to protect your childcare business or school from infectious bacteria and viruses, years, moulds and spores. Luckily there’s an excellent way to do it without breaking the bank, with ongoing energy costs that are surprisingly low. It’s UV light disinfection, and it’s a business-saver.

UV light disinfection for schools
The best way to use UVC disinfection tech in schools is to use it in the rooms where the different school years mix. This has proved very effective in stopping illnesses and infections from spreading to every age group. Bringing UVC into play in shared spaces like gyms, IT rooms, language labs and canteens has an impressive impact.

Chris Roe RCN RGN is the Chief Medical Officer for a large prestigious boarding school called Willow Park in Dublin, where primary schools feed children into the senior school.
As he says, “Our top priority in opening the school in September 2020 was the safety of our students and staff. My office was identified as one of our main priorities due to the volume of students and staff that would come through daily. After installation of our fixed UV fitting, I easily felt more comfortable being able to blast the room multiple times during the day between patients. We did also introduce portable UV systems to clean the classrooms in the school and it has been a great addition to our sanitising process. Although I do not have the exact numbers,
I do believe that not only did the purifier help with no outbreaks of COVID 19, but there was also a reduced number of stomach bugs and colds and flus in general. The team has always supported us with any technical issues and had a rapid customer response”.

Feel free to get in touch . We’ll be pleased to discuss how to keep the pupils at your school safe from pathogens.

Food poisoning risks set to increase in the UK

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 12:00:32 GMT

Climate change isn’t just affecting the way we heat and cool our homes. It’s also predicted to drive an increase in diarrhoea outbreaks. It’s just one of many stories cropping up that highlight the importance of the best possible food hygiene and food system disinfection protocols. Let’s see what’s happening, and what we recommend to keep food sector businesses and their products safe and hygienic.

How campylobacter loves heat
Campylobacteriosis infection causes diarrhoea and stomach pains, and the main transmission route is food. A team from the University of Surrey says the campylobacter food poisoning bacterium will spread faster as the climate warms, but they’re not 100% sure why. It matters because campylobacter is one of the four biggest global causes of diarrhoeal diseases in the world.

The team analysed data from around a million cases in England and Wales collected over two decades. Then they mapped the findings to the weather over the same period. The results revealed that while the disease turns up consistently below 8C, every 5C rise creates a dramatic hike in infection rates. The same goes for humidity. Once it reaches 75-80% humidity, infection levels soar.

The theory is that warm weather simply boosts the survival and spread of pathogenic bacteria. The way people socialise more when it’s hot also has an effect. Luckily, however hot and sticky it gets, our UVC disinfection units kill campylobacter stone dead in no time.

Say you run a cafe or restaurant. This is the kind of UV light hygiene units you might need: Cubical surface and air for the toilets, ceiling units or our mobile for the whole restaurant at the end of each working day..

The FSA and NFU warn about poisoned imported food
The UK Food Standards Agency is worried about a rise in food poisoning linked to some imported products, a concern mirrored by Food Standards Scotland and the UK Health Security Agency. They’re all warning us to take more care than usual over handling and cooking imported poultry and related products thanks to a hike in food poisoning.

The warnings are in response to a sharp increase in Salmonella enteritidis linked to poultry products from Poland, and negotiations are already underway to improve the safety of the imported goods to protect people’s health. The idea is that we should never allow sub-standard imported food into the UK.

In the meantime people need to take extra care over the cooking instructions on food packaging, cook food at the right temperature and right amount of time, ensure surfaces and equipment that contact food are clean, and wash hands regularly. The FSA is also asking local authorities to remind food businesses about the importance of good hygiene.

Whatever foods or ingredients used by your food sector business, we have a powerful, affordable UV light disinfection unit that’s perfect for your premises. Get in touch to find out the perfect way to keep your premises clean and safe for employees and your food safe for the people who ultimately eat it.

Say you have a complex production line. How might you best use UV disinfection to keep your people working and your products safe to eat? Just and investment of £ 3-4 K can keep your premises safe.

The beautiful game – poisoned!
An important football match has been cancelled because of food poisoning. 14 players and 4 staff were struck down before the Wolverhampton Women’s Birmingham Challenge Cup semi-final with West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

The team couldn’t even train because of the outbreak, which floored the majority of players and staff members. Apparently the cause was a ‘dodgy meal’ the team had after their match with Reading the previous week.

The thing is, food poisoning doesn’t just affect the people made ill, it also impacts the bottom line of both clubs, which have lost the income they would have made from spectators.

It sounds like the business that provided the contaminated food could do with improved sanitation measures. Just one of our units could have made all the difference, at a cost that doesn’t break the bank:

Powerful, fast, safe ultraviolet disinfection for care homes

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 16:59:33 GMT

As a rule the older we get, the less effective our immune system is in the first place. When we’re seriously ill or suffer from certain diseases, it can be badly damaged. No wonder so many of us lost people we love in care homes during the covid pandemic. The virus that left many younger people with no more than a sniffle proved a catastrophe for the elderly and vulnerable.

The dedicated people who run care homes understand the risks, and they’re taking steps to prevent a covid-like tragedy from happening again. At the same time money is tight and profit margins are being eaten away by the cost of living and energy price crises.

Luckily the best solution to care home hygiene doesn’t involve costly things like employing more cleaners, cleaning more frequently, or buying ever-more powerful disinfectants and cleaning chemicals. It simply involves clean, safe ultraviolet light at a special wavelength that kills health threats in mere minutes.

Affordable, cheap-to-run ultraviolet hygiene for care homes
UVC light has a profound effect on viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and more, damaging the RNA and DNA inside them so badly they can’t reproduce, which means they can’t spread and can’t make people ill.

The UVC light shines on surfaces as well as cleaning the air. Clean air is particularly important in care homes because the windows are often shut to help stop residents feeling the cold, even in good weather. So it’s vital to keep the whole care home clean and germ-free.

Care home owners still have to carry out essentials like washing clothing, bedding and towels, but vital tasks like cleaning communal areas, bathrooms, loos and dining rooms, residents’ rooms, surfaces and equipment are made faster and a whole lot easier thanks to ultraviolet hygiene.

It’s surprising where pathogens can gather. As every care home manager knows there are threats everywhere, which is why disinfecting things as disparate as soft furnishings, photo frames, DVD players, landline telephones and even mobile phones is important.

An example of a popular UV disinfection unit for care homes
In some care home contexts a fixed UVC hygiene unit will do a top job of killing pathogens. Our Upper Air Germicidal Units (UVGI), for example, is an easy-to-fit UVC LED Steriliser Unit that provides impressive Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation.

This particular upper air steriliser is safe to have on constantly, disinfecting the upper air that’s naturally circulated to protect people in the area. Perfect for shared spaces like care home TV rooms and dining rooms, they’re simply installed above people’s heads to stop the cross contamination of viruses and germs, dramatically cutting the viral load across the air and providing constant clean air.

Our X Series is available as 600mm or 300mm square ceiling tiles, an industry standard size to fit almost every existing light fitting. The X1 model uses convection for continuous air disinfection and the X2 model uses mechanical extraction to provide silent air circulation. The X3 integrates surface and air sterilisation with direct ‘line of sight’ disinfection while the space isn’t occupied, along with continuous upper air disinfection, making it ideal for toilets and other small spaces where people don’t spend much time.

How much are UV disinfection units for care homes?
These UVC ceiling fittings don’t use any chemicals. There’s no ozone. They’re sustainable, cost very little to run thanks to the cool, long-lasting LED bulbs used to generate the UVC light, and come with zero maintenance. At the same time they’re absolutely deadly to harmful micro-organisms and fit straight into existing suspended panel ceiling schemes.

So what do the ceiling units cost?

The X2 300 & 600– perfect for a care home’s communal areas - £ 395 & £895 per unit
The X3 300 - perfect for a care home’s toilet cubicles - £495 per unit

We have more models, including units to fit seamlessly into ducting to deal with things like Legionnaires diseases, and mobile units that your cleaning staff can wheel around quickly and easily for powerful hygiene on-the-go.

Call us for a quote. You’ll be surprised what a good deal they are compared to hiring more cleaners, spending more time cleaning, and laying out cash month after month on chemical cleaning products.

It has the fatality rate of Ebola – so what is Disease X?

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 12:00:00 GMT

As we learned for ourselves thanks to covid, humans aren’t usually very good at planning ahead for things that might or might not not happen. We had the knowledge, we knew the risks, we understood exactly how to prepare for a pandemic, and scientists were begging the government to act... but they didn’t. And then came covid.

At one stage the Information Commissioner's Office had to order the government to release an unpublished report into Exercise Cygnus, the infamous 2016 exercise designed to test the UK's preparedness for a flu pandemic.

These days the public has a heightened awareness of new infectious threats to human health. While the covid buzz has died right down we’re still seeing a steady stream of new variants turning up, some of which make it into the media and others that sink without a trace, deemed not bad enough to bother with.

There are fresh threats in the wind too, the latest being ‘Disease X’. As experts in the UV light disinfection sector, we know how important it is to keep a finger on the pulse of the pandemic risk we constantly face in the UK. So here’s what we know about Disease X so far.

About Disease X
On January 15th 2024 world leaders will discuss preparations for the next pandemic. The talks take place at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, where global experts will explore the potential pandemic risk posed by Disease X. Apparently it’s an important agenda item.

Why the fuss? The WHO has sent out new warnings that a so-far-unidentified disease could kill twenty times more of us than covid. Covid killed 10,000 people globally during December 2023 alone. New York’s suffering from a big covid wave right now. The grand global total death toll for covid is 6,991,829 (at 14th January 2024), which means a Disease X outbreak could kill as many as 1.4 billion of us.

“As infectious as measles with a fatality rate as high as Ebola”
Scientists say Disease X is classified as an illness that’s “as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola”. The WHO says a pandemic of this type is ‘more of a probability rather than possibility’.

Scientists at the government’s high security Porton Down lab in Wiltshire are working on vaccine preparedness right now. They and others want the government to begin making plans now.

On the bright side, if there is one, so far the disease is literally unknown. The experts have created a ‘threat list’ of animal viruses that could infect humans and spread like wildfire, and they don’t know which of them is going to be the next pandemic. They just know that one of them, or something very like one of them, will ultimately become the Disease X everyone’s dreading.

The idea is to force the government to prepare this time around so we’re ready when the worst case scenario happens. Then, when Disease X emerges, as much of the essential work as possible will have been done in advance.

Worldwide, £1.15 billion has been pledged so far to help scientists prepare for whatever Disease X will eventually bring. Our government has promised £160 million and the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust have also contributed.

At the same time the NHS is understandably concerned, keen to prepare well in advance so they’re ready next time. As Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, said, “You could use the phrase ‘it is when, not if’. We can’t put a handle on when, of course. The precise mechanism by which a virus comes out is always extremely unpredictable. You can never predict precise events, so you have to do it on sort of statistical grounds probability.”

Do the wise thing - plan ahead!
As Psychology Today reports, humans are notoriously bad at long-term planning. But that’s exactly what we’re going to have to do if we want to handle the next pandemic wisely and well.

The kind of forward-thinking we need applies to everyone from members of the government and the NHS to businesses and individuals. And one exceptionally good way to plan ahead for health and hygiene is to fit safe, powerful UV light disinfection units at your premises. It kills viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and more fast and well, and it’s an affordable common sense choice.

If you’d like a no-obligation discussion about how UV light can disinfect your business and keep you going through thick and thin, get in touch.

The best disinfection for surgeries – Clean and safe for everyone

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:00:00 GMT

Picture this. It’s a perfectly ordinary day and as usual, your surgery Waiting Room is packed with people. Toddlers with nasty coughs, old people whose immune systems aren’t as good as they used to be, a load of bad colds - some of which may be flu – plus a few injuries, a rash or two, and someone who may have an undiagnosed case of norovirus.

It’s clear there’s a risk of things being spread, simply because your patients are sitting in one room, breathing, coughing, chatting, and expelling particles of potentially infected moisture into the air.

In this article we take a look at UVC light hygiene for surgeries and related healthcare settings, and why it works so well to keep people and employees safe and healthy. We’ll also provide some price examples so you can see it’s an affordable choice.

Why Waiting Rooms and treatment areas need UV light disinfection
You don’t want your patients to pass diseases and illnesses on to each other, especially the very young, very old and vulnerable. Because it’s a healthcare setting, everyone in the Waiting Room is naturally a bit more vulnerable than usual.

Nor do you want the practice nurses, administrators, reception staff and the doctors themselves to go off sick. It throws your scheduling out of whack and can mean patients suffer delays to diagnosis, referrals and treatment. Catching up with the delays caused by staff sick leave can take a while, adding unwelcome extra pressure to an already highly pressurised job.

Add a pandemic, a particularly nasty strain of flu going around or a new covid variant and things quickly become a lot more difficult for practice staff as well as more risky for those in the Waiting Room.

The risk of infections in surgeries
According to the British Journal of General Practice, “The reception area of the GP surgery can be viewed as a collection of viral and bacterial incubators, many of which may be leaking. The typical patient’s discomfort at waiting 10 or 20 minutes for an appointment will increase exponentially if they have to sit between two people exhibiting all the classic symptoms of flu.”

They say that one piece of research taking place in a hospital waiting room estimated the risk of acquiring flu during a half hour wait at about 3%, a number they say is “far from insignificant”, and the risk of catching measles stacks up to more than 13%.

In their words, “This risk of acquiring infection is particularly significant for older patients and others with compromised immune systems. The risk of infection comes not only directly from infected patients, but also from chairs, leaflets, and other reading materials that may have been touched or expectorated upon.”

The Journal also cites ‘shared toys and books that are then not wiped clean after use’ as an extra risk for children, “increasing the risk of direct infection to levels higher than in adults.”

Helping you look after your patients and staff better
At the end of the day every medical professional wants to do the very best for their patients, and at its most basic it involves providing a clean, safe place for people to wait. Human cleaners are brilliant, playing an essential role in keeping things safe and hygienic, but they can only do so much.

The solution? It’s beautifully simple. When you shine UV light at a certain wavelength onto surfaces and into the air, it kills a remarkably long list of pathogens in an impressively small amount of time. It does the job by damaging the RNA and DNA inside viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and more so badly that they can’t replicate – which means they’re effectively dead and can’t infect people.

Our UVC disinfection units come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit different situations. Some fit neatly and simply into an existing light fitting. They use very little electricity because the UV light is generated by LED bulbs, which are cool, safe and last for years.

Some units stay on all the time, disinfecting the upper air safely and drawing the lower air through the unit to keep the area hygienic. Others switch on when a space is empty and off when someone enters the room, ideal for toilets, washrooms and treatment rooms.

If you have a large surgery there’s a mobile unit that your cleaner can easily wheel from room to room, disinfecting areas very effectively within minutes, killing pathogens in the air and on every surface the light touches.

If you have ducting for air conditioning or heating we’ve even created a ducting probe to fit inside, where it keeps the air passing through safe from nasty infections like legionnaires disease.

The cost of fitting UVC disinfection in a typical surgery
Let’s look at a typical setting, where you have four rooms for your GPs, two for the nurses, and an average-sized Waiting Room.

UV light upper air disinfection unit

One upper air disinfection unit for each room used by a doctor or nurse – total 6 units, total cost £3450
£575 per unit
Very low ongoing costs thanks to energy-light LED bulbs

UV light mobile disinfection unit

To clean the Waiting Room, reception area, corridors and the rest of the premises, you invest in a 200W mobile disinfection unit.

It costs nothing to talk
Every surgery setting is different, of course, and yours will have its own unique disinfection needs based on the layout and size of the building and its rooms. We’re always pleased to talk and it costs nothing to find out more. Contact us for an exciting discussion about keeping your patients and staff safer and healthier.

UV disinfection for gyms and sports clubs

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 12:01:08 GMT

Case Study

Your gym is buzzing. It’s full of people pushing iron, lifting heavy stuff, achieving their fitness goals. In this setting it’s all about making a gigantic physical effort. But it’s also the perfect setting for infections and diseases to brew, especially in winter when the doors and windows are shut.

How to keep your gym, fitness centre, health centre or sports club safe and healthy for employees and customers? Read on.

Why sports businesses love UVC sanitisation technology
Getting fit lifting weights, doing circuit training, running, playing the beautiful game, it all requires breathing heavily to get the oxygen the body needs. It also involves sending gusts of infected air into the surroundings, whether it’s the gym itself or the changing rooms and showers.

The last thing you need is to have to shut down for a few days because your employees have all been infected by something – whooping cough, flu, the common cold, covid or the winter vomiting bug norovirus. You don’t want to let your customers down by infecting them, either.

The simple, low cost magic of UVC sanitisation
Luckily while other gyms may struggle without it, thanks to UVC sanitisation tech your place can stay open, providing healthy, safe exercise spaces for customers and employees alike. We have a choice of units and they’re all affordable as well as highly effective.

Our Portable UVC sanitisation units for cleaning staff wheel around easily from room to room. These mobile sterilisers disinfect the air and surfaces by killing bacteria, viruses, moulds, spores and more in minutes.

Our CTX-1 Upper Air Germicidal Units offer indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation. The LED UV upper air steriliser is safe to have on all the time, constantly disinfecting the upper air that’s naturally circulated to protect people in the vicinity.

We make CT-X2 Upper Air Germicidal Units for Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation. They’re also safe to have on at all times, constantly disinfecting the upper air as well as pulling air from below via a fan to increase circulation.

Our CT-X3 unit, like the CT-X1 and CT-X2, also disinfects the upper air as well as shining direct light whenever motion is detected, making it great for constantly-disinfected changing rooms and toilets. When the area is vacant the light switches on to clean the toilet and cubical. When it detects movement it automatically turns off.

Ultraviolet air disinfection is also brilliant for ducts and pipework. Our CT-X4 Series disinfection lamps fit into more or less every ventilation duct where they kill off airborne bacteria, moulds, viruses and more, and keep Legionnaires Disease at bay.

Add super-efficient contemporary heating, cooling and lighting
Our sister site, Cool-Tech , offers even more brilliant energy-saving products to keep fitness, leisure and sporting facilities competitive. With energy costs as high as they are with no sign of dropping much any time soon, every penny counts.

Cut down your business’s fixed costs by reducing your energy spend. Cool-Tech’s innovative heating systems, lighting systems and cooling systems are affordable to buy, low-cost to run, and work a whole lot better than traditional radiators, ordinary air conditioning, and regular light fittings.

Add it together and what do you get? A smooth-running business that’s safe and healthy for consumers.

A place that’s comfortable and enjoyable to visit, free from disease, and always the perfect temperature whether it’s boiling outside or absolutely freezing. Plus lower electricity bills than you’ve seen for years. If that sounds good, let’s talk.

100 day cough – How the UK is a whooping cough hot-spot

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:40:08 GMT

In the UK and parts of Europe we’re seeing a sharp hike in whooping cough, so dramatic it’s being called a ‘significant resurgence’. Nicknamed the 100-day cough, it’s a highly infectious respiratory infection and the ongoing surge is proving worry for health professionals thanks to the severe coughing fits it causes.

Here’s everything you need to know about whooping cough and what you as a business owner can do to help prevent it spreading, including a look at the unusual power of UV light sanitising systems.

How many whooping cough cases did we see in 2023?
In England and Wales we saw a ‘substantial increase’ in cases in 2023 compared to the year before, with around 230% more people than usual falling ill with whooping cough. On 5th January 2024 the media reported a 120% surge in just a month. Apparently the celebrity Jeremy Clarkson has caught it and is struggling to manage the cough. The current hot-spots are London, the North West of England and the South East.

About whooping cough in the UK
Whooping cough, officially named Pertussis, can last for several weeks and occasionally bedevils the sufferer for as long as a year. A highly contagious bacterial disease, it can start off looking and feeling a lot like a common cold. But the coughing fits it brings can go on and on for a very long time, hence the 100 year cough nickname.

The ‘whooping’ part comes from the unusual sound made when people try to draw breath in between coughs, and the sound can be a way to diagnose the illness in children. On the other hand the whooping sound isn’t as common in adults and very young infants, so the sound alone isn’t a reliable enough sign to make a firm diagnosis.

Spread through the air in droplets, the bacterium is particularly dangerous for infants and young children. The complications can include pneumonia, hemoptysis (coughing up blood), otitis media (middle ear infections) and even seizures, sore ribs, a hernia, and urinary incontinence.

What’s whooping cough like?
The NHS says the first signs of whooping cough are similar to a cold, with symptoms like a runny nose and sore throat. After about a week, you can expect fits of coughing that last for a few minutes at a time and get worse at night. The ‘whoop’ happens when you need to gasp for breath in between coughs.

Some people have difficulty breathing after a coughing bout and toddlers can even turn blue or grey through a lack of oxygen. The thick mucus the coughing brings up can make people vomit and all the constant coughing can turn the face bright red. The uncontrollable cough can last for many months but there’s usually no need for hospital treatment unless you’re suffering very badly or are less than 6 months old.

As long as it’s diagnosed within three weeks, you’re usually prescribed antibiotics for whooping cough. They help the body fight the illness as well as suppressing how infectious it is. If you’ve been ill for more than three weeks you’re usually not infectious any more.

When you should see a doctor about whooping cough
Pregnant women should see a doctor if they come into contact with an infected person, and the same goes if a child less than 6 months old catches it.

If the cough is very bad and getting worse, the recommendation is to see a GP. And if someone has a compromised or weakened immune system, it’s wise to seek medical help.

Call 999 if someone’s lips, tongue, face or skin suddenly turn blue or grey, or has breathing difficulties. If the chest pain gets worse when breathing or coughing, it could be pneumonia so call 999. If a child is having fits or seizures, call 999. And be aware that the disease can look a lot like TB, another severe bacterial illness that’s fast increasing in the UK. It comes with some very nasty antibiotic resistant strains that can - and do - kill.

How long to isolate yourself and when to do it?
If you’ve caught whooping cough, the experts recommend you self-isolate for at least 5 days while the antibiotics kick in, so you keep other people safe.

How to stop whooping cough spreading to employees and customers
Our UV light sanitising systems quickly, efficiently damage the DNA and RNA inside bacteria so badly they’re rendered harmless in minutes. While the whooping cough bacterium isn’t on the extensive list of tested bacteria proven to be killed by UV light there’s no reason to suspect it won’t be. It’s a bacterium like any other, and the same science applies.

Whooping cough is just one illness on a growing list of infectious threats to humanity. UVC light is a low-cost to buy and run, a fiendishly good way to kill a huge list of threats including viruses, moulds and spores. It’s a match made in heaven. If you’d like to pioneer safe workplaces, safe spaces for consumers and a healthier business, let’s discuss the potential of UVC.

Ultraviolet disinfection for the food sector

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 11:00:02 GMT

Case Study

When you run a food manufacturing company or you’re in foodservice, you want to ensure your place is as hygienic as possible. In this article we take a look at how our UVC hygiene tech ups the cleanliness ante for 21st century success.

The challenge
The challenge in this case was to make sure every aspect of the food production process, plus the wider office context, was protected by UVC light, which quickly kills pathogens on every surface it touches as well as disinfecting the air.

The solution
We carefully analysed the premises and recommended solutions.

For the areas where people are constantly working we suggested ceiling UVC disinfection units. They’re safe to have on at all times, constantly disinfecting the upper air that gets naturally circulated, protecting people in the vicinity.

These units are perfect for continual disinfection when people are present, in this case shared office space. The units are installed above people’s heads to stop the cross contamination of viruses and germs by reducing the viral load across the air. Basically it constantly disinfects the upper air and air from below, which is pulled through the fan to increase the circulation.

For areas where people come and go, in this case the loos, we have units that disinfect all the upper air and also feature a direct light that opens and closes when motion is detected. When the toilet cubicle is empty the light will switch on and the toilet and cubical will be disinfected. When motion is detected it will automatically turn back off.

Because ducting can pose serious hygiene issues, we recommended our CT-X4 Series disinfection lamps, installable into more or less every ventilation duct. Germicidal Ultraviolet lamps fitted in ventilation ducts help protect people from harmful airborne micro-organisms including bacteria, moulds, viruses and Legionnaires Disease.

We also suggested a mobile UVC LED germicidal light as the perfect complement to regular cleaning by humans. There’s no downtime and a very fast turnaround. The units are designed for easy, efficient use. They can easily be moved from building to building and room to room either for constant disinfection or to respond to a hygiene emergency. We have a 200W and 600W version, and in this case the 600W version was ideal.

The impact
Food businesses are becoming increasingly concerned about the food poisoning outbreaks seen recently in the UK. They’re keen to keep their employees healthy and at work, not on sick leave. They want to manufacture food that’s safe, tasty, and risk-free for consumers. And they want to avoid the financial problems that come with product recalls, close-downs and reputation damage.

Our units help food sector companies do all of this. They use very little electricity thanks to efficient, long-lasting LED bulbs. And there’s barely any maintenance.

The cost of this successful UV disinfection project?

The cost to supply and fit 6 upper air UVC disinfection units: £3450
To supply and fit 6 motion sensitive upper air UVC disinfection units: £14,250
To supply and fit a germicidal UV lamp to each of 4 ventilation ducts: £1735
To supply one 600W mobile UVC disinfection unit for use by the cleaning team: £8450

Protect your future with powerful, hard-working UV sanitisation
So how about your business? If you’d like to minimise sick days taken off because someone spreads their cold or flu or covid around the premises. If you want to stay safe from legal action over making consumers ill. If you want to build your reputation as the best and keep it that way.

If you want to maximise your potential and minimise food hygiene-led risks... let’s talk.

Ultraviolet light disinfection – Your competitive advantage

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 16:48:56 GMT

In the UK there are around 2.4 million cases of food poisoning every year, and an estimated 180 deaths. 2023 saw serious cases of food poisoning, where people need urgent hospital treatment, soar. At the moment over 75% of cases involve campylobacter, which has recently overtaken salmonella in the nation’s food poisoning stakes.

Here’s the food poisoning news – along with some good news. If you’re in food manufacture, foodservice, or operate anywhere along the food supply chain, our ultraviolet light disinfection units give your business a strong competitive advantage in an increasingly challenging economic landscape. Here’s why.

Britain’s campylobacter boom
Campylobacter is a beast. One in ten people who catch it get severe complications, including septicaemia and sometimes even paralysis. Experts say the shocking rise in cases is down to ‘contamination linked to imports of dirty foods’, and apparently it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Poor hygiene in commercial kitchens along with undercooked, contaminated food - especially chicken – sits at the heart of the problem. And it’s rising fast. The UK had around 250,000 cases in 1992, 360,000 in the year 2000, and campylobacter cases continue to rise. It causes severe diarrhoea and pain, most people need a doctor, and almost everyone needs a lot of time off work to recover.

Deadly E Coli menaces the UK
One person in Scotland has died in the most recent E Coli outbreak, which has made around 30 people ill so far. The outbreak is linked to the particularly nasty Shiga toxin-producing E coli, also called Stec, which turned up in July. Most cases happened in December. The Food Standards Agency said that ‘epidemiological and food chain investigations’ found links to unpasteurised cheeses, as we mentioned in a previous post.

Oyster nightmares and filthy water
The famous Arcachon oysters eaten to celebrate New Year in France have been affected by dirty wastewater, with symptoms in poisoned people that are a lot like acute gastroenteritis When tracing the illnesses back to the oysters, researchers also found Norovirus present in the animals.

It matters to the UK because we have our own terrible problems with contamination of the seas surrounding us, and the waterways flowing into the seas, which makes eating shellfish and other seafood harvested around our coasts a risky business.

Sewage was dumped in shellfish-inhabited water just under 29,000 times in the year leading up to August 2022, and the situation hasn’t improved since then. Waters where oysters, mussels and clams are harvested were exposed to untreated waste, creating a serious risk to human health.

Focusing on ultraviolet disinfection in your marketing materials
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect in 2008, allowing a business to be sued if it plays a part in someone’s death. The fines extend way beyond any compensation awarded in a civil law case or an individual criminal prosecution.

Luckily, against this background of increasing risk, our ultraviolet disinfection technology makes short work of food hygiene, quickly killing off a huge list of pathogens to leave the premises, storage units, transportation methods, conveyor belts or food production areas as hygienic and free from disease as possible.

Whether you run a small cafe in a seaside town or a popular restaurant in the capital, are part of the food manufacture chain or operate a food supply chain, import raw materials, or grow or raise food products for sale, our units can give you a significant competitive advantage.

It makes sense to choose a supplier or partner that takes food hygiene extremely seriously over an alternative whose hygiene standards aren’t so high. Mention it in your marketing materials, make a feature of your dedication to high food safety standards, and you’ll feel the benefit.

If you’d like to discuss the potential just give us a call or email us – we’re always happy to talk and there’s no obligation.

Turkey horror, JN1 covid, cheesy E. Coli and ultraviolet disinfection

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 16:48:19 GMT

Christmas didn’t go too well for a lot of people when their supermarket turkeys and turkey products turned out to be rotten to the core... literally. There’s big trouble in the world of cheese. And the latest covid variant, JN1, is spreading fast for the new year. Luckily ultraviolet disinfection is by far the best way to keep food itself - as well as internal spaces in general - free from pathogens. Here’s the news.

Rotten turkeys ruin Christmas
While we like to keep our finger on the pulse, this time the news is making us feel slightly sick. It’s awful to hear that many Christmas dinners have been ruined thanks to ‘rotten’, ‘rancid’ and ‘slimy’ turkey and turkey products bought at Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Aldi.

It isn’t a storage issue, since people are well versed in following the product instructions for meat to keep it clean, chilled and safe for consumption. Shoppers have had to throw birds costing as much as £60 in the bin because they were so mouldy and rotten they actually ‘stank’.

It happened to some consumers even though they’d ordered the birds well in advance and, of course, it was too late in most cases to go out and buy a replacement – even if people could’ve afforded to buy two turkeys.

Our ultraviolet disinfection units are essential in every foodservice and food production context, killing pathogens quickly wherever the light shines. But even they can’t stop sub-standard food getting through the nation’s quality defences in the first place.

Festive cheese E. Coli nightmares
Cheese has also had a grilling this week, pardon the pun. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recalled a number of cheeses made by Mrs Kirkham's and later also recalled products from Route des Terroirs. If you’ve bought these cheeses, it’s probably best not to eat them:

Mrs Kirkham's Creamy Lancashire
Mrs Kirkham's Tasty Lancashire
Mrs Kirkham's Mature Lancashire
Mrs Kirkham's Smoked Lancashire
Route des Terroirs' Morbier Maison Monts
Route de Terroirs Chalet De Vevy

It’s about more than chunks of cheese. The FSA says the cheeses might turn up in hampers or as an element in a ‘charcutier grazing platter’, which makes them a little harder to identify.

The products listed could be contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, AKA STEC, which comes with symptoms similar to flu – a high temperature, aching or painful muscles, the chills, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhoea. If you’re vulnerable you could end up with meningitis.

Our ultraviolet disinfection units kill E. Coli with ease, destroying the DNA and RNA inside it so it can’t do any harm. In our opinion every food production setting in the country deserves the clean, low-cost, easy to use power of UV disinfection to keep consumers safe.

What’s the latest on the JN1 covid variant?
It looks like the JN1 covid variant is on its way around the UK, partying along with the population. London is worst hit so far, with people aged 18-44 the worst hit, and the variant is spreading ‘rapidly’. The WHO is treating JN1 as a ‘variant of interest’ amid rising UK cases.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says about 6.1% of Londoners had the virus mid-way through December, by far the worst area in the UK. In England and Scotland as a whole it’s about 4.2%, which doesn’t sound like a lot until you realise that’s one in 24 of us.

It’s a season thing. At this time of year diseases tend to spread faster because the cold weather and early dark keeps us indoors, and we’re travelling far and wide to hook up with family. Because respiratory viruses always spread particularly efficiently in a context like Christmas and New Year, the surge isn’t exactly unexpected.

The experts say please try to limit your contact with other people as much as possible if you have symptoms, especially if you’ll be around older or vulnerable people. Hopefully they’ll have had their booster and will be as well protected as possible, but it’s wise to keep them safe anyway.

JN1, like other covid variants, is quickly made harmless using our affordable, highly efficient, low-energy ultraviolet disinfection systems.

Let’s talk ultraviolet disinfection
If you’d like to keep your business going this winter whatever illnesses the world throws at us, let’s talk about how our UV disinfection tech will help secure your business’s future, protect its good reputation, keep your employees healthy and at work, and prevent customers from becoming ill. It’s perfect for every commercial setting from shops to gyms, surgeries to clinics, theatres to cinemas, and pubs to restaurants.

Kill norovirus, flu, colds, covid, RSV and salmonella this winter

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 09:45:00 GMT

As winter unfolds we’re seeing the usual suspects devastate communities, with flu and the common cold, norovirus, RSV and salmonella sending people home from work and school, invading hospitals, and bringing businesses to their knees. Here’s the news.

The common cold, RSV and more – And how to kill them
Sometimes it isn’t just about feeling awful for a couple of days – it’s a matter of life and death. The norovirus winter vomiting bug has closed four wards in a Middlesbrough hospital, the biggest outbreak the James Cook has seen for four or five years. People have been warned to avoid the hospital if they have symptoms, to keep vulnerable people safe.

Norovirus is transmitted via direct contact with poo, contaminated surfaces and airborne particles of vomit, all of which are pretty revolting. On the bright side our range of ultraviolet disinfection lamp light units kills all these nasty health threats quickly and efficiently. And that makes the affordable ultraviolet disinfection lamp price we charge an exciting prospect for any business wanting to keep staff, customers and everyone else healthy.

So is it norovirus... or not?
The thing about norovirus is, it’s easy to mistake for any number of illnesses with the same symptoms. Apparently, while there’s been an increase in people hospitalised with diarrhoea and vomiting, it isn’t necessarily a norovirus outbreak.

The UKHSA says they’re not seeing an unusual increase in norovirus cases this year, even though the numbers are quite high. In fact norovirus cases are 20% lower than the previous 5 year average for the time of year. It looks like norovirus hospitalisations are also down a bit this year. So while there’s definitely a much bigger burden on the NHS with diarrhoea and vomiting admissions, it isn’t necessarily norovirus.

Right now there’s an uptick in all the usual seasonal viruses: flu, norovirus, RSV, colds, whooping cough and a new covid variant. Together they’re putting a lot of pressure on the NHS, with flu admissions alone up 50% in a week.

A new covid variant on the loose – Meet JN.1
People are falling ill with a new descendant of Omicron, with 97,904 reported symptomatic cases at 6th December. The new sub-lineage is called JN.1, sub-categorised by the UKHSA because it has mutated enough to be interesting and because of its “increasing prevalence within the UK and international data”.

Apparently it’s the fastest-spreading variant in the UK, related to the BA.2.86 Omicron variant with one new mutation in its spike protein and several other mutations elsewhere. It has a current growth rate of 84.2% but the WHO isn’t calling it a Variant of Concern: they’re simply monitoring it.

JN.1 was first found in Luxembourg in August and has made it into 12 nations so far including the UK. On 4th December there were 302 sequenced cases in the UK (223 in England) out of 3618 cases worldwide.

JN.1’s symptoms are probably similar to other variants, and the same health advice applies: if you get serious symptoms, get medical help. You’ll probably get a temperature, runny nose, and headache, perhaps lose your sense of smell, and you might also get diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Experts also say it might take longer to recover from it, could cause more serious disease, and could be more infectious. The scientists are working on it but we don’t know the full story yet.

Ultraviolet disinfection lamp price is surprisingly low considering its power
The ultraviolet disinfection procedure and our ultraviolet disinfection system look pretty good when you realise the tech kills bacteria, viruses, moulds, spores and more health threats so quickly and so safely.

Give us a call to discuss how our affordable UVC disinfection units will keep your people healthy and at work, protect your customers, and keep your cash flow flowing.

Season’s Greetings to our customers and visitors

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 10:43:53 GMT

We hope you’ve had an excellent 2023!

This year has seen record numbers of businesses making the change from expensive teams of cleaners using nasty chemical products to clean, highly effective UVC disinfection technology. It looks like the ultraviolet disinfection equipment market is booming.

Our ultraviolet disinfection devices have been designed with a variety of circumstances and contexts in mind, with a specially-designed unit perfectly suited to every business.

Some units fit easily and neatly into existing light fixtures, others are fully portable so your cleaner can wheel it from room to room, killing pathogens like viruses and bacteria extremely quickly and effectively.

Some of our UV disinfection devices stay on all the time, even when there are people in the space, working perfectly safely to keep the place free from infections, diseases and other health threats. Others switch on and off via intelligent sensors, disinfecting a space like a loo, for example, every time there’s nobody in the cubicle.

A low price, low energy usage, impressive effectiveness and efficiency all sit against a proven scientific background – UVC light has been used for decades in healthcare settings. Now it’s taking over from ordinary, less-efficient and more expensive cleaning methods in all sorts of contexts including schools, theatres, surgeries, gyms, public transport, shops and an array of public spaces.

Ultraviolet disinfection in wastewater treatment has been used for decades too, an excellent way to rid drinking water of threats like legionnaires disease and any other pathogen that finds its way into the water systems we rely on.

Make 2024 the year your premises is REALLY safe and clean!
Right now we’re seeing covid numbers soar along with flu, and hospital admissions for both are on the rise. If you’d like to keep your workers working, your customers safe and your business going when others are losing out because of employee sickness and absence, our ultraviolet disinfection systems are the way ahead.

Low cost, low energy, low emissions, deadly to pathogens... and our ultraviolet disinfection tech is beautifully simple to use. No wonder it’s a winner.

Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, productive and profitable 2024.

The great salmonella scandal

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 09:45:00 GMT

And how to kill salmonella

In the USA three people have died and almost 100 have needed hospital treatment. Around 230 recent salmonella cases have been reported across 38 states. The disease was exported from the USA to Canada in a shipment of pre-prepared melon slices, triggering 129 cases, five deaths and 44 hospitalisations there.

Now it’s in the UK, a fast-growing Brexit-led health scandal that’s hitting the foodservice and food production industries hard. Here’s what you need to know about the disease - and how to kill Salmonella before it kills your business. Your secret is ultraviolet air disinfection tech, affordable ultraviolet air sterilization lamps that do a top job of keeping people safe and well.

What is salmonella?
Salmonella affects the intestinal tract. Some people don’t get symptoms, others do. If you’ve had it you’ll know how horrible it is: it’s possible to suffer for more than a week as you first feel absolutely exhausted, then develop a fever, violent runs, and acute intestinal pain.

Salmonella bacteria tend to thrive in animal and human intestines, shed through poo. Most humans catch it through contaminated food and water. It can cause severe dehydration and deserves fast medical attention. It can make you so ill you need to go to hospital, and it can and does kill.

The risk of picking up a salmonella infection is higher in countries without clean drinking water or modern sewage disposal systems. It’s worrying to see it causing havoc in countries like the UK and USA, which are supposed to be ‘first world’ nations with hygiene to match.

The UK’s ongoing salmonella nightmare
The UK is in the midst of a surge of salmonella cases right now, and it’s all because the checks that used to take place on food before it entered the UK are no longer happening thanks to Brexit.

The NFU (National Farmers Union) says recurring waves of the disease are coming in via improperly-checked meat, poultry and eggs, with Poland named as a key source. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is investigating. They say several cases so far have been laid at the feet of eggs produced in Poland then used to cook food in UK restaurants and cafes.

Previously, the EU would have been monitoring imports to make sure the quality hits the right levels. Three years without these checks and balances is beginning to show in an unusually high number of ‘recurring incidents of salmonella’.

The fact that, in September, the government delayed plans for post-Brexit checks on imports from the EU for the fifth time isn’t helping. The new date for checks to begin is the end of April next year, but if things carry on in the same way it could be delayed again.

The NFU has been pressuring the UK government, so far to no avail, to support our farmers while they’re facing the extra costs, competitive challenges and horrific amounts of paperwork that EU members don’t have to handle. In the meantime the FSA is in talks with experts in Poland and the EU to improve the quality of foods imported into the UK.

How to avoid Salmonella poisoning and how to kill Salmonella
Like covid, hand-washing sits at the heart of the battle against Salmonella. But it’s also very infectious and can spread from person to person easily - and because you can’t taste or smell it in food or drink, there’s not a lot you can do to stay safe from infected food served in a restaurant or cafe.

There are several kinds of Salmonella infection. The fastest and most efficient way to kill them all doesn’t involve chemicals, special cleaning fluids, or extra cleaning staff. UVC light at a specific wavelength does the job in seconds, killing everything the light touches and disinfecting a room within a few minutes.

Some of our ultraviolet disinfection equipment units are portable, others are fixed. Some work all the time, others only switch on when the room is empty of people. Ultraviolet disinfection efficiency is impressive, killing off all these sub-types of Salmonella in seconds:

Salmonella anatum
Salmonella derby
Salmonella enteritidis
Salmonella infantis
Salmonella paratyphi – Enteric fever
Salmonella typhosa – Typhoid fever
Salmonella typhimurium

It’s no surprise ultraviolet disinfection in hospitals has been used for decades to keep people safe, and ultraviolet disinfection in wastewater treatment is used internationally for clean, safe drinking water. And it’s no wonder ultraviolet disinfection in toilet areas is so important.

Want to know what it’ll cost you to fit and run these powerful machines? Give us a call for an informal chat. You’ll be surprised how afford able our units are, and how easy they are to fit, and you’ll love the fact there’s almost no maintenance as well as really low power usage thanks to clean, cool, safe LED bulbs.

How gyms, sports and fitness clubs benefit from ultraviolet sterilisation

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 09:45:00 GMT

Humans are clever animals. Our amazing ability to focus on our immediate surroundings has helped us survive. But on the downside it has given us a short-term thinking bias that we find really hard to break, which affects the way we run businesses.

Your gym, yoga classes, Zumba classes, fitness club or sports club will be affected by the next pandemic. You might have to close down temporarily or permanently unless you prepare in advance. Can you work against your own flawed human nature, think ahead, and get ready?

Our ultraviolet sterilisation tech could save your fitness and well-being business’s life. Here’s how.

Long term thinking and ultraviolet sterilisation
While humans are intelligent enough to be aware of the challenges we face in the future, with excellent survivalist decision-making skills, actually doing something about longer term risks is a different story. We struggle to think ahead, and we find it almost impossible to do what’s needed now to save people in the future. Climate change proves the theory.

At the same time planning is a must for a successful business. We need to intentionally examine what might happen in the future. We should always analyse how the choices and decisions we make today will impact our business’s future.

UV sterilisation is all about future-proofing your business for the next pandemic. But it’s also about ‘now’. What if all your staff go home sick at the same time, just because there’s a particularly nasty common cold virus, flu virus, or norovirus outbreak doing the rounds? It isn’t a pandemic, but it can still affect your bottom line.

Why gyms and other sports settings are particularly vulnerable to illnesses
Picture your premises. If it’s a gym you’ll have people working out hard, puffing and blowing, getting out of breath, chatting, shouting encouragement, laughing – all the signs of people using your space the way it’s intended, and enjoying themselves enormously.

The same goes for zumba, circuit training, aerobics, five-a-side footie, more or less every indoor sporting and wellbeing setting where people are exercising, breathing hard, making an effort. All that work and activity sends viral threats spinning around the space, floating through the air to infect person after person.

When we exercise vigorously we tend to breathe rapidly and deeply, which means the exercise area itself can soon fill up with viruses, bacteria and more. The changing rooms, loos and showers are equally vulnerable, being warm enclosed spaces where there’s little if any airflow. This means viruses can easily collect and hang around, both in the air and on every surface the air touches.

People with warts and veruccas can easily pass them on. In a worst case scenario you could even get Legionnaires disease infecting your air conditioning and water supply systems.

What will happen to your bottom line if an infection strikes?
Say you need to close your gym down for a week, maybe two, either because of staff illness or a pandemic. Can you afford two weeks with no income? Maybe more?

The Association of British Insurers predicted their members were expecting to pay out as much as £2.5 billion for 2020 covid claims alone. During the covid pandemic the insurer AXA said it wouldn’t pay out for covid business interruption claims because covid was new, an illness not specified on policies, revealing it’s unwise to rely wholly on insurance to fix your finances.

Be wise - Think ahead with our UV sterilisation units
Luckily it won’t break your bank account doing the wise thing. Some of our UV sterilisation units are portable, perfect for wheeling from space to space. Others are fixed into existing light fittings to either work continually or switch on automatically once everyone has left the room.

What you need depends on your particular premises. You can rest assured we’ll provide the expert advice you need to minimise your spend and maximise the impact. One thing you can know for sure? Our tech is surprisingly affordable considering it’s so powerful, so flexible, and so useful. Give us a call for an interesting no-strings discussion.

About swine flu A(H1N2)v and UV surface disinfection

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 09:45:00 GMT

“When we published our investigation into the Government’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic we said the Government should learn from its mistakes and its successes. At our follow-up session last month, we heard concerning testimony that the systems that made the UK vaccine effort such a success are being dismantled.Covid-19 will not be our last pandemic. It is vital the lessons are embedded to inform future decisions on disease outbreaks with pandemic potential and protect lives and livelihoods.” Right Honourable Greg Clark MP, Chair of Science and Technology Committee - January 2021

As UV light disinfection UK experts we knew it was only a matter of time. Last week the UK’s first human case of the H1N2 swine flu strain was found, one of just 50 cases discovered worldwide since 2005. The particular strain they caught is Influenza A(H1N2)v, a very similar version to the flu virus currently circulating in British pigs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been informed and businesses have been inspired to explore the power of UV surface disinfection once more. Here are the facts.

About swine flu and UV surface disinfection
Someone in North Yorkshire has caught a new genetic strain of flu very similar to a flu pigs get. Apparently they went to see their GP on 9th November. Because it takes 1-4 days for symptoms to arrive, their GP visit would have taken place a few days after they caught the virus.

The patient had fairly typical flu symptoms: probably feeling very tired, with a high temperature, a bad cough and a sore throat. Because the person doesn’t work with pigs or have a pet pig, the infection’s source remains a mystery.

The results of the GP’s swab test, taken as part of a national initiative to help the UKHSA check the overall population’s health, took about two weeks and on 23rd November the new virus was confirmed officially.

Because it’s slightly different from swine flu, officials are calling the virus influenza A(H1N2)v. It is actually a sort of flu but comes with slight differences, almost exactly the same as the version circulating in our pigs at the moment, not very similar to the flu humans usually get.

Will this new swine flu spread in humans?
The problem is, it is quite rare for viruses to leap from pigs to people but a lot more common for people to give pigs our diseases, so this outlier is a bit of a worry. And while it’s similar to one case found in the USA during 2023, it isn’t identical.

Experts say it’s unlikely to become a problem but they’re keeping a close eye on the situation just in case. While the person who caught the virus was ill enough to go see their doctor, they weren’t poorly enough to be in danger. It was a relatively mild case and they’re now fully recovered.

Luckily the person didn’t go out to any large events where there were a lot of people, so the risk of onward transmission was low as well. On the other hand none of this means much in the scheme of things because we still don’t know the virus’ transmission potential, nor do we know the age or health of the person who caught it. If they were medically vulnerable, would they still have recovered? Nobody knows.

So far there’s no sign the virus has spread or will spread any further. Pig viruses aren’t usually very good at spreading amongst humans. But the UKHSA is continuing to investigate, bearing in mind the lessons we learned from covid. We really need to understand all of its characteristics before we can predict what’ll happen, know we’re safe, or deal with its potential spread.

Could swine flu cause a pandemic?
Pigs are a common source of new flu strains simply because they can catch flu viruses from humans and birds, which blend inside their bodies to create new and different viruses. While they usually struggle to transmit onwards to new hosts there’s always a risk, which is why every new virus is carefully analysed and investigated.

So far there’s only been the one confirmed case and the source hasn’t been pinned down. There was a 2009 pandemic in humans caused by a flu virus that was commonly called swine flu but caused by a different virus: A H1N1(pdm09), which contained genetic material from pig, human and bird viruses that were around during the 1990s and 2000s. These days it’s simply treated as another version of the flu, one of the flu types today’s annual flu shots protect us against.

There isn’t a vaccine so far but if we need one, it can be made. Which is good to know.

Does ultraviolet sterilisation kill swine flu?
Swine flu is a viral infection, like every kind of influenza. While it doesn’t appear on our UVC kill list there’s every reason to believe it’ll be killed fast by UVC light, which destroys the DNA and RNA inside viruses so they can’t reproduce.

Why wait until there’s another pandemic? Set yourself up now with our brilliant UV disinfection units and stay ahead of your competitors, who’ll be running around like headless chickens tying to buy our units when the next pandemic arrives.

UV light disinfection UK

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 09:30:48 GMT

Your questions answered

We’ve scoured the internet to find out the questions people are asking most often about ultraviolet sterilisation and how it’s changing the way the world tackles health threats.

Would you like expert advice about how UVC cleaning can help your business weather the threat presented by pathogens in every setting, from B2C to B2B, factories to hospitals, foodservice to entertainment and hospitality? If so we’re here to answer your questions, no strings attached, and recommend the best solutions. Welcome to our UV light disinfection UK world.

Who discovered ultraviolet?
Ultraviolet is a type of electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays, making up 10% of the total electromagnetic radiation given off by the sun. The German physicist Johann Wilhelm Ritter discovered ultraviolet in 1801.

What is UV disinfection?
UV disinfection is simply the process of using UV light at a special wavelength to kill off pathogens in air, in water, or on surfaces. A modern UV disinfection unit can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and designs to provide clean air and surfaces in every commercial context.

How does ultraviolet disinfection work?
Ultraviolet disinfection works by damaging the DNA and RNA inside pathogens quickly and effectively, which means they can’t reproduce so can’t spread disease. Ultraviolet sterilisation kills a huge range of health threats including killer diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, Covid and hospital acquired infections, keeping employees and the people who buy from public-facing businesses safe from illness.
It’s no surprise UV light disinfection for hospitals has been used for decades to sterilise the places we go to be treated and the places where we recover.

Are UV sterilisers safe?
UV light is a type of radiation, the kind that gives us sunburn. The best UV sterilisers are safe, made with quality materials bearing the science in mind. Some of our units can be switched on at all times, safe for people to enter the space they’re fitted. Others are designed to be used when the area is empty.
Our designs are all perfectly safe, engineered with skill, made from the best materials, and certified by all the right official bodies for use in the UK. Take a look at this LED UV air steriliser, which you can keep on at all times. It constantly disinfects the upper air, pulling the air from below through the fan to increase the air circulation and help protect people in the room.

Why UV lights in toilets?
If you don’t like the sound of a floral fecal fountain, stop reading now! If someone uses the loo and doesn’t close the lid before flushing, the contents of the pan rush up in an invisible fountain of particles to fill the air.

It isn’t something you’d want to breathe in. The entire bathroom or loo can be filled with miniscule poop and urine particles, which pose a threat because diseases can spread as a result. Norovirus, for example, spreads via poop particles in the air. A specially designed UV light like ours will remove the threat by killing any pathogens present, making them harmless before they’re breathed in.

Will a UV light kill algae?
Yes, UV light kills algae, along with a huge list of spores, bacteria, viruses and more.

Can UV light kill mould?
Yes, UV light kills mould too, disinfecting everything the light touches, including the air.

Who UV?
We do UV disinfection, and we’ve created a suite of different units each with a specific UV cleaning task in mind.

We have units that can be fitted easily into existing light fittings, sitting discreetly above to keep people safe.

We have portable units you wheel around from room to room, building to building, where they do a fast and efficient job of cleansing health threats in the air and on surfaces.

We even have special vehicle sterilisers – great for everyone from driving instructors to public transport – and a brilliant in-duct air purification probe disinfection lamps for killing off nasties like Legionnaire’s disease.

More UV questions answered by our UV light disinfection UK experts
We’ll be answering more of your questions as time passes. In the meantime if you want to protect your customers, staff and bottom line from illness and disease, we’d love to talk things through with you. Just give us a call or send a message .

UV disinfection expert

chris@lucidsynergy.com (Chris Witham) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 08:30:00 GMT

Advice on UV for private water supplies

We design, manufacture and sell UV disinfection units to clean indoor air and surfaces in public spaces. But UV is also an exceptionally effective way to keep drinking water safe and clean, killing pathogens quickly and efficiently. So how does the tech work and what are our expert tips?

Our expert tips on private water supply UV disinfection
Ultraviolet irradiation is a common way to disinfect private water supplies. But here’s our first tip: you can’t just pick up any old UV unit and hope it’ll do the job. The unit must be designed specifically for treating drinking water, and the best units are specially approved for the purpose. A simple UV used for ponds and fish tanks, for example, is no good for drinking water.

How UV water purification units work
The UV radiation is generated by special lamps, which are safely enclosed in a plastic or steel reaction chamber and sleeved to keep them dry.
Disinfection happens when there’s enough UV, in other words a big enough dose. For water purification that’s generally about 40mJ/cm2.
The water’s UV transmittance or UVT is important, since if the rays can’t get through the liquid because it’s too murky, the UV can’t do its job. We’re looking at a minimum UVT value of more than 90%, ideally at least 95%.

We recommend you include all the added extras
Like our UVC disinfection units for air and surfaces, water purification involves the right blend of time and UV intensity, laid down in the manufacturer’s recommendations for each unit.

Point-of-use water purifying UV units rarely include a UV monitor and alarm, but they’re usually available separately, and of course as UV experts we recommend you use every added safety feature there is.

UV irradiation equipment designed for water purifying tends to be easy to operate, with simple maintenance. Some units clean themselves, others have to be cleaned manually. The water purifying units, like our air and surface purifiers, work quickly, with a highly effective yet short contact time. Also like our UV units there’s no impact on health. As long as the system is clean and working properly, the water will be safe to drink.

Some units actually stop the water flowing if it isn’t properly disinfected. The best units also come with features like UV intensity monitoring, lamp run time controls, and automatic water shut off in case the lamps fail. If fitted in hard water, you’ll need to take the effect of limescale into account and keep it under control.

And finally – recommendations for replacing the bulbs
Our air and surface UVC units contain LED bulbs, which are cooler than ordinary UV bulbs and don’t contain any mercury. But many UV disinfection units for private water supplies still use low pressure mercury bulbs to generate the UV light at the correct wavelength. Which brings us to our final tip... because the intensity of UV radiation emitted from mercury lamps decreases with age, dropping around 30% over 12 months while not losing any brightness, you’ll need to replace them regularly to keep your drinking water clean. Luckily, although it involves some down-time, it’s usually quite easy to do.

Keep the air and surfaces at your business hygienic and safe
Keep the air and surfaces at your premises clean and hygienic with our fitted and mobile UVC units. They’re simple, affordable, and thanks to our UV expertise they’re designed to do a top job in no time.

UVC disinfection expert

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 08:30:00 GMT

Tracking infections via waste water

“The idea of monitoring wastewater to spot disease trends began with efforts to track the transmission of poliovirus in the 1930s. In the decades since, improved techniques for growing isolated cells in labs and analysing DNA have made the concept more practical.” – New Scientist magazine.

UVC light has been used to disinfect the water we drink for decades, but until covid came along we mostly ignored waste water. Now the waste water we produce is turning out to be surprisingly useful in identifying potential health threats.

Once we know there’s a threat to human health and wellbeing we can swing into action with UVC disinfection, tackling pathogens before they get out of control. Let’s take a look at the science.

Covid started it, now sewage analysis might become permanent
A lab in Massachusetts, USA, is busy analysing thousands of wastewater samples from across the country. They’re checking for viruses and other signs of disease, and it’s proving so effective it is going to become permanent. Originally set up to pin down traces of the covid virus, now the facility is planning to track a wider array of pathogens in waste water, including seasonal flu and RSV.

It works because every time we use the loo we’re flushing fragments of pathogen, effectively a medical sample. All the samples we flush are collected in sewers to give scientists a ‘community-level urine or stool sample.’ The hope is that analysing the samples continually will help improve the national response to future pandemics, endemics, and new microbial threats.

The waste water samples are purified then the purified samples are genetically analysed to measure the number of copies of a virus’ genome in every millilitre of sewage. The concentration of viral fragments changes as a disease circulates through a city or area’s population, and the system reliably detects the presence of a virus even when as few as one person in 6500 is infected.

How wastewater surveillance is spreading around the globe
Biobot’s Massachusetts lab is already helping monitor community levels of the monkeypox virus that started appearing in the USA during 2022. Testing has also helped track the re-emerging polio virus. While it can’t identify individuals, the testing does give scientists and governments a big picture view of what’s going on, especially around covid when fewer people than ever are taking covid tests.

Because the testing system can also identify pollutants in communities’ waste water, it’s also handy for knowing when to make a rapid response to pollution events.

The EU implemented similar monitoring during March 2021. Because every EU Member State acted fast, today we have 1370 or so EU wastewater treatment plants under regular surveillance, which contributed to the early detection of the covid virus and its variants across the EU. Because the data was shared with everyone involved, every country was able to make coordinated, well-informed decisions about the pandemic. China is also doing more sewage surveillance, in large cities and beyond.

A 100% reliable way to kill almost 99% of pathogens
UVC light keeps our drinking water supplies safe and clean to drink. It also disinfects the air and every surface it touches, and it makes rooms and other indoor spaces safe in just a few minutes.
Our portable units wheel anywhere you like for fast disinfection, killing an enormous list of diseases and disease-causing nasties. Our fixed units sit beside your existing light fittings and quietly do their job, keeping people safe from illness in every imaginable setting, from hotels to cruise ships, schools to food production lines.

If you’d like to know more, please get in touch for an inspiring discussion.

Food handling infections outbreaks and how to stop them

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 13:30:00 GMT

Norovirus has been pinned as the ‘most likely’ cause of the illness that hit the Sunderland triathlon so badly three months ago. Two hospital wards were closed two weeks ago in Scotland because of an outbreak. In the USA it’s currently hitting rural Minnesota hard, and the same goes in Melbourne, Australia.

How many of these outbreaks are down to food hygiene issues? It can be hard to pin down the origin but because poor food handling is a known cause of Norovirus, it’s always a risk.

So what do you do if you operate in the food sector? Norovirus can hit hard at every stage in food production, from being on the food itself at source through infected water or because employees bring it into the premises with them. No wonder our UVC disinfection units are such a great idea for foodservice, food production, and the food chain in general.

Food safety failures drive Spanish norovirus outbreaks
As reported by Food Safety News , infected food handlers played a critical role in two Norovirus outbreaks in Spain.

The gastroenteritis outbreaks took place a week apart in the same holiday camp house during 2018, an outbreak whose cause has just been confirmed. Researchers said the initial outbreak was associated with eating salad, and the second with a cheese omelette. The team detected the Norovirus using RT-PCR technology , sequencing two groups of students and the food handlers who made the food.

Two groups of twelve and thirteen-year-old students fell ill in two waves. There were two food handlers in charge. One food handler had acute gastroenteritis symptoms the day before the first group of children arrived at the camp, and the second food handler fell ill the day after their arrival.

Fecal samples from both food handlers were positive for Norovirus. In both cases the sinks in the toilets and the hand washing stations in the kitchen didn’t have soap dispensers or paper towels. The disinfection guidelines weren’t followed and surfaces weren’t cleaned. As the final report’s findings said, “These results highlight.. the importance of adequate availability of mechanisms for correct hand washing and the correct cleaning of surfaces.”

More shocking food-related infections
This week we’re also seeing reports about 1 in 25 raw roasting chickens sold in the UK being ‘ highly contaminated with campylobacter’, the biggest cause of food poisoning. A women’s prison in Mexico is being plagued by Norovirus. Contaminated salami might be at the root of a female medical student’s recent death in the UK.

Croatia is withdrawing some Coca Cola products because of food poisoning. And in Majorca, two people have been sentenced to two and a half years in jail because of a serious restaurant food poisoning case, with the prosecutor saying one of them should be banned from working in the restaurant sector for eight years.

Heat, cleaning products and acid don’t kill Norovirus
Because you can be infectious with Norovirus before the symptoms appear and sometimes for weeks afterwards, it is easy to bring the illness into a food-related context without realising it.

Norovirus is a tough customer, surviving our stomach acid with ease as well as the temperatures we wash our skin and laundry at, and the temperatures to which we re-heat food. It even survives chemical cleaning products and hand sanitisers.

So how do you keep your food sector business, your staff and customers safe from food-borne infections? The only way is UVC.

Why the only way is UVC
Picture this. You spend a fortune on human cleaners, who can’t get into all the nooks and crannies where infections can lurk. They use chemical cleaning products that don’t kill the Norovirus anyway. It’s tougher than that. Ordinary cleaning methods just don’t work, and with the best will in the world a human cleaner can’t sanitise the air.

Instead, it makes sense to invest a surprisingly small amount of money in our proven, powerful UVC disinfection units. They can easily be fitted to your existing light fixtures, and we also have portable units for your cleaners to wheel around the premises. Both types of unit quickly kill food poisoning and other pathogens to leave everything clean, safe and hygienic.

Your business keeps going, your staff stay healthy, you don’t lose out on productivity, your products are safe to handle and eat, and everybody’s happy. If that sounds good, give us a call for a friendly, professional chat.

How to stop Norovirus

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 16:00:58 GMT

Simple, low cost infection control

At this time of year Norovirus arrives. Schools are one of the major melting pots where it takes hold and spreads. Norovirus is a leading cause of vomiting and diarrhoea, and a common worldwide cause of food borne illness. People of all ages can be infected with norovirus, which spreads very easily and quickly. But the impact can be more serious than you might imagine, and its negative influence spreads wider than you may think.

The personal and business impact of Norovirus
Say your child picks up norovirus at school or nursery. They’ll have to stay home while they recover, which means either one parent has to take time off work, or they’ll have to find someone else to be there while the child recovers.

One parent off work can mean the family income is affected, especially when the job doesn’t come with sick pay, for example when they work in the gig economy. The businesses parents work for can suffer as well, either because productivity goes down, the workload increases for the people left to cope, or almost everyone goes off sick.

The business might be forced to bring in temps to cover the absences, which costs extra money. Because it’s so infectious a child’s siblings might fall ill, as can the parents at home caring for the sick child. And if the whole company goes off sick with it, the business can soon start to run into difficulties.

Luckily there’s a fast, affordable, proven way to battle Norovirus infections, killing the virus in the air and on surfaces using clean, powerful UVC light at a special wavelength identified by science as the most effective for the job.

As you can imagine it’s well worth avoiding this nasty illness that pops up to cause chaos every winter. Let’s take a look at norovirus, why it makes us ill, the symptoms, and how UVC disinfection is the lower-cost and fastest way to get it under control.

How do you catch Norovirus
Direct contact with someone with norovirus, food or drink contaminated with norovirus, and touching surfaces contaminated with it are the most common ways it spreads. Perhaps an infected person touches food with their bare hands, the food is placed on a countertop with poo or vomit particles on it, or tiny vomit particles land on it from the air. Food grown in contaminated water is less of a risk, but it also happens.

What are the symptoms of Norovirus?
Norovirus inflames your stomach or intestines. Also called acute gastroenteritis, it takes 12 to 48 hours for the illness to make itself felt. Until the symptoms arrive people have no idea they’ve been infected. You can be infectious before symptoms appear as well as long after they disappear.

Norovirus can make you feel absolutely dreadful, with days of vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, headaches and an aching body. This can make you dehydrated, which can be particularly dangerous for young children, older people, and those whose health isn’t good. Children can get so dehydrated they cry without actual tears.
You might also see a sharp decrease in urination, a very dry throat and mouth, and dizziness when you stand up.

Most of us recover within three days, during which we are highly infectious. But we can still spread it to others for three days or so after that, and some people have been known to stay infectious for as long as two weeks after the symptoms go.

Like the common cold, flu and covid, you can get Norovirus every year or more than once a year simply because the virus constantly mutates to avoid the immune system. There’s also a genetic component to the number of times you catch it and the severity of your illness.

How to kill Norovirus in schools
What is the best way to keep school children healthy, kill Norovirus, stop it spreading, and as a result keep businesses going this winter? As you can see on our UVC kill list, norovirus is just one of a large group of viruses and other health threats rendered harmless by our special fixed UVC light units and portable units.

Kills pathogens in the air and on surfaces by damaging their DMA and RNA so badly they can’t reproduce
Kills a host of other viral health threats: the common cold, flu, covid and more
Keeps people of every age safe from infection in schools, colleges, universities, nursery schools and every other setting where the Norovirus likes to take root
Low cost to buy
Low energy usage
Highly effective
Simple to use
Proven science used for decades to keep healthcare settings pathogen-free

Chris Roe RCN RGN is the Chief Medical Officer for a large prestigous boarding school called Willow Park in Dublin. The main school has a junior feeder school plus another associated college all offering boarding facilities.

Q: How has using the Silent Guardian helped you?

A:"Our top priority in opening the school in September 2020 was the safety of our students and staff. My office was identified as one of our main priorities due to the volume of students and staff that would come through daily. After installation of our fixed UV fitting, I easily felt more comfortable being able to blast the room multiple times during the day between patients. We did also introduce portable UV systems to clean the classrooms in the school and it has been a great addition to our sanitising process. Although I do not have the exact numbers, I do believe that not only did the purifier help with no outbreaks of COVID 19, but there was also a reduced number of stomach bugs and colds and flus in general. The team has always supported us with any technical issues and had a rapid customer response”.

Low cost, high impact infection control
Find out what UVC infection control could mean to your nursery, school or college, and help the UK stay working this winter. We’re always happy to talk.

Chris Roe RCN RGN is the Chief Medical Officer for a large prestigious boarding school called Willow Park in Dublin. The main school has a junior feeder school plus another associated college all offering boarding facilities.

Q: How has using the Silent Guardian helped you?

A: "Our top priority in opening the school in September 2020 was the safety of our students and staff .

My office was identified as one of our main priorities due to the volume of students and staff that would come through daily. After installation of our fixed UV fitting, I easily felt more comfortable being able to blast the room multiple times during the day between patients. We did also introduce portable UV systems to clean the classrooms in the school and it has been a great addition to our sanitising process.

Although I do not have the exact numbers, I do believe that not only did the purifier help with no outbreaks of COVID 19, but there was also a reduced number of stomach bugs and colds and flus in general. The team has always supported us with any technical issues and had a rapid customer response”.

UVC Disinfection

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 16:00:01 GMT

Top tech for pest management companies

The bedbug invasion continues, with the BBC reporting on an infestation at a popular holiday camp. The family involved were so disturbed and disgusted that they went home, and they’re still worried they may have brought some of the bugs home with them. It’s enough to make you itch.

Rentokil experienced a 65% year-on-year increase in UK cases over the second quarter of 2023, and now, thanks to the recent outbreak in Paris, the common bedbug - cimex lectularius – is sitting at the heart of a growing media storm.

While it’s good to see sniffer dogs being trained to find the insects, it takes time to train a dog and we’d need thousands of them to cover the UK. Plus the dogs only find the bugs, they don’t actually kill them. Pest control companies need a better way to handle the invasion, and we’re stepping in to help.

Pest management company books UVC bedbug killer trials
We’re delighted to be visiting a leading Pest Management Company this week, arranging a trial of three of our 600 Watt UVC Portable Units. The tech will be tested at three top luxury hotels in London over the next month, all of which are obviously determined to prevent any bedbugs getting into their premises. When just one case of bedbugs is enough to ruin a hotel’s high class reputation, potentially bringing a respected brand to its knees, it’s vital to act fast. Nobody wants to pay good money to stay in a luxury hotel where they’ll be bitten.

Why UVC is so effective at killing bedbugs and their eggs
The Far UV light used in our disinfection units ranges from 200-230 nanometres. This particular wavelength range has been proven time and time again to perform outstandingly in eradicating the spread of viruses, pathogens and bacteria.

UVC in all sorts of wavelengths is already being used worldwide to kill viruses, pathogens, bacteria, moulds and more, and there’s a host of products available with remote controls, auto shutoff and timed activation tech to disinfect places perfectly safely.

Independent research in the USA, where they’ve long suffered from bedbugs, reveals the effectiveness of UVC light in killing the creatures at every life stage. It’s particularly good at killing bedbug eggs, good news when the insects have been getting ever-more resistant to the chemicals traditionally used to kill them.
The very fact that you don’t want to be using dangerous chemicals in a consumer context makes our units even more attractive in fighting the bedbug invasion.

Our units kill bedbugs fast, safely and efficiently
We have a choice of permanent and mobile units. Our direct fixed static UVC LED units automatically disinfect the air and surfaces any time the space is unoccupied, significantly reducing the spread of pathogens. They’re fitted with a central microwave sensor to make sure nobody can be exposed to UVC while the unit is working. Would they suit your luxury hotel or holiday park?

Our mobile UVC LED germicidal lights come with quick turnaround with no downtime. Being solid state LED they don’t contain any mercury vapour. Perfect for fast, chemical-free disinfection and easy to use, they’re the ideal tool for cleaning staff. You can easily move them from room to room and building to building, for either continuous disinfection or an instant emergency response. This is intense disinfection, and it comes in either 200w or 600W. Would this style of unit suit your purposes best?

Defuse the bedbug threat before it becomes a problem
When your competitors have been infested and you haven’t, you win. With bedbugs, the faster you act the better. You don’t want a full-blown infestation if you can avoid it – and that’s exactly where our UVC tech steps in. Let’s get cracking before the bedbugs bite. Get in touch to find out which of our units will be best for your circumstances, or book a trial to see the power of UVC disinfection for yourself.

Antibiotic Resistance Special

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:00:01 GMT

Before we reveal a few horror stories, here’s one fact you’ll be relieved to know: no matter how much resistance bacteria build up, our UVC disinfection units will kill them in a few seconds, messing with their DNA and RNA so badly they cannot reproduce. Bearing that in mind, here’s some news about antibiotic resistance, currently being described as one of the most rapidly-emerging public health threats in the world.

Antibiotic resistant infections kill over a million in 2019 alone

Antibiotic resistance is becoming more widespread than ever, which means everyday infections like sepsis and pneumonia will become more of a challenge to treat.

One study reveals more than a million of us died from antibiotic-resistant infections worldwide in 2019 alone, hundreds of thousands more than AIDS or Malaria. This makes resistant bacteria one of the biggest threats to modern medicine.

In the first worldwide survey of its kind, the team estimated how many of us died in 2019 from resistant bacterial infections that would have otherwise been beaten by antibiotics. Based on medical records from 471 million people in 204 countries who’d had an antibiotic-resistant infection, they attributed a massive 1.3 million deaths directly to resistant bacteria.

The scientists also found another 3.65 million deaths involving people whose illness had involved ‘some form of’ antibiotic resistance, some of whom might also have died because of it. If so, this makes drug-resistant bacterial infections the biggest cause of death in 2019. In the same time period AIDS killed 680,000 of us and malaria 627,000. There’s no reason to believe this year’s any different.

It’s good to know our UVC disinfection units kill more than 50 types of common bacteria fast, including various forms of Salmonella, Campylobacter, E Coli, TB and MRSA. No wonder the light has been used for decades in healthcare settings and to help keep the nation’s drinking water supplies safe.

Genetic material in dust might spread antibiotic resistance
The genetic material that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics has been found in dust in buildings, and could theoretically spread to microbes that cause disease, making them resistant. This means people living in places where antibiotics are taken frequently could be at a lot more risk of ‘superbugs’. Luckily it’s just a theory at the moment.

Wildlife is at risk of antibiotic resistance
Wild animals don’t take antibiotics of course, but antibiotic resistance is showing up in all sorts of animals including penguins, wild bears, and hedgehogs. It’s clearly something humanity needs to deal with, and fast.

Recent outbreaks and insights
Invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella, or iNTS for short, is a nasty bloodstream infection with a high mortality rate. Nature magazine says it’s the cause of a ‘huge public health burden’ in sub-Saharan Africa, caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. It’s good to know that this particular type of Salmonella, along with a handful of others, is killed quickly by our UVC units.

It’s all about our water. According to Engineering and Technology magazine , the link between industrial environmental pollution and the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance has been exposed in a new UN report. They say well-run and maintained wastewater treatment plants are ‘probably, singularly, the most important barrier for disease spread there is – better than the best vaccine’. It’s good to know UVC light is already used in UK water treatment plants, has been for a long time, and that ours is proven technology.

Farmers Guardian says antibiotic resistance is rife in farming and food production chains, slamming farmers for their chronic over-use of antibiotics. And SciTech Daily reports on an extensive investigation by scientists, who’ve been busy testing more than ten thousand drug combinations against some of the nastiest pathogenic bacteria with antimicrobial resistance.

Invest in simple tech to help fight antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance is clearly a problem that isn’t going away, and its potential impact is still being investigated. It makes sense, if you operate a business with any kind of vulnerability, to invest in our excellent value UVC disinfection units. Then you’ll inactivate these awful health threats before they affect the people who work at your place, interact with you, and use your products.

Get in touch for an interesting conversation into the many health, hygiene and business benefits of safe, powerful UVC light tech.

Boosting food hygiene and sanitisation with UV light disinfection

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:50:56 GMT

Back in 1994 the science media was reporting on a dramatic rise in food poisoning, with more than a million people dying of it globally every year. Health officials were, apparently, in a state of ‘panic’. In 2011 President Obama gave the USA’s Food and Drug Administration more powers to inspect and shut down food producers, billed as the ‘biggest overhaul of food safety in the US since the 1930s’. Now, almost thirty years since the alarm was raised in ’94 about rising cases, we’re in much the same situation. It’s everywhere, it affects a lot of us, it kills us, but we can do a lot to prevent it. Here’s the food hygiene news.

Norovirus tops all food-borne viruses globally
This week Food Safety News reports on norovirus, the winter vomiting bug that affects so many of us every year. Experts have just named it as the leading cause of viral food borne illness, closely followed by the more clinically severe Hepatitis A.

Norovirus is estimated to cause 125 million cases of food-borne illness around the world every year, and 35,000 deaths. Hepatitis A virus is the probable cause of 14 million cases and 28,000 deaths a year. Both are on our UVC kill list.

The report says the food sector can do more to ‘support training and adopting methods for detecting viruses in foods and the environment’, and say that doing so ‘has the potential to enhance knowledge on food attribution, support risk analysis, and reduce the burden of viral food borne disease worldwide’.

New Zealand’s food-borne Campylobacter focus
It looks like Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently notified food-borne disease in New Zealand at the moment, leading health officials to make it a ‘strategic priority’ for the country’s Food Safety experts. They’ve set a target to reduce the rates of food-borne campylobacteriosis 20% by the end of 2024.

Unpasteurised milk warning in Utah
It sounds like a lovely, natural thing to do but drinking unpasteurised milk can be deadly. Health officials in Utah are looking into a cluster of campylobacteriosis cases linked to raw milk, with patients from two to seventy three years old becoming ill after drinking it. One was hospitalised but has recovered.

Campylobacter is just one food-borne illness-causing bacterium found in raw, unpasteurised milk, leaving people with diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and vomiting. It’s often serious in young children, pregnant women, older people and those with compromised immune systems.

The risk of lawsuits and class actions
While we’re not as litigious in the UK as they are in the USA, businesses whose products make people ill are at financial risk and an insurance policy isn’t always going to get you out of hot water. In New York during September this year, more than two dozen people fell ill after eating at a sushi and steakhouse restaurant. Two of them took legal action, fifteen food hygiene violations were logged, and now three more lawsuits have been filed. Apparently the illness has been linked to cooked rice. And sadly, the reputation damage was so bad the place is closing down.

Halloween warning from food hygiene experts
As reported by The Mirror, it isn’t wise to eat the pumpkin you’ve carved for Halloween after the event. A professor of food policy at Northeastern University says you can either use a pumpkin as food or a decoration, but not both.

People falling ill in large numbers
More than 300 female students at India’s Aligarh Muslim University were hospitalised last week with serious food poisoning after dining at their student hostel. Officials say it was probably down to ‘major irregularities in food material purchase procedures’. At the same time over 20 children in Taiwan fell ill after eating school lunches and 16 students in India were treated for food poisoning after their midday meal.

The worst of these food hygiene fails do tend to occur in places where the food safety regulations aren’t as tough or aren’t enforced strongly enough. But we have our own fair share here, and the companies producing food in the UK can just easily fall foul of food hygiene and food poisoning unless they’re constantly vigilant.

Fifty pupils at a school in Turner’s Hill near Crawley in Sussex fell ill this September. Would one of our fixed or mobile UVC germ killer units have stopped it happening? Who knows. But if the light was able to reach the source of the infection, and it was one of the many on our kill list, it’s a yes.

The power of UVC food hygiene and sanitisation
Maybe you’re in the food sector and want to improve hygiene standards. You might run a factory, foodservice catering company, restaurant, hotel or B&B and want to make sure your products are as safe and hygienic as possible.

Whether it’s a food production line or a self-serve canteen, a sandwich bar or gastro-pub, our UVC disinfection units - some portable and others fitted – do a fantastic job of rendering a long list of nasty pathogens harmless, and they do it economically, efficiently, and fast.

Please get in touch for a thought-provoking conversation. You’ll be surprised how affordable our tech is.

Food sector science

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 11:00:00 GMT

Are virus nanobots the way ahead?

Dengue fever, tick-borne encephalitis and a deadly outbreak of botulism are bedevilling France at the moment. In Australia rampant listeria is causing havoc. 25 pupils and staff have been off sick with salmonella after an outbreak in a Scottish school. In Canada E.Coli is poisoning children in Calgary. In Turkey 88 people have been affected by botulism outbreak. Around the world, mycotoxin contamination of cereals and cereal-based products is a serious food safety issue. And in New York a lawsuit is cranking up for expensive action following a nasty food poisoning outbreak at a sushi and steakhouse.

It can be a challenge seeing when food and drink it contaminated. Now some clever people have come up with viral nanobots that can make nasty bacteria in food and drink glow. It’s great to hear when it can be so time consuming and tricky to test food and drink for harmful bacteria.

Viral nanobots make bacterial health threats glow
Drinking water and food are both tricky to test. In the UK, for example, our drinking water must be free from Ecoli, which causes food poisoning. But it’s hard to test for and even harder to pinpoint low microbial concentrations of it. So a team from New York’s Cornell University tried using bacteriophages as living nanobots to stick onto bacteria to make them easier to see.

The team used the gene editing tool CRISPR to change the bacteriophage’s DNA in two ways. The first change makes the infected E. coli glow in a similar way to deep sea shrimp. When they added the bacteriophages to water or liquid food, the infected E. coli bacteria lit up like a Christmas tree. The second tweak changes the structure of the viral duplicates inside the E. Coli so they stick to either cellulose or miniature magnetic particles, making them easier to collect.

A fast and easy way to see threats so they can be killed
It looks like the gene-edited bacteriophages can detect just 5 bacteria in 100 millilitres of fluid, and it took half the time to do the job compared to the usual methods. Using bacteriophages like this is really fast, and it helps that there are so many bacteriophages already out there in nature that find and attack bacteria. They usually target a single type of bacteria but they can be genetically engineered to make hybrids.

The team has already done exactly that in an effort to ‘see’ Listeria and Salmonella in food and water more easily. Apparently it won’t be long before designing and engineering brand-new bacteriophages from the bottom-up becomes reality. Once they’re spotted, killing food borne health threats is a relatively simple matter using proven UVC light tech like our units , which reliably destroy pathogens in every stage of the food processing and packaging journey.

Bedbugs update:

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:28:01 GMT

The nation panics - but our lights do the job

The nation has gone bedbug crazy, no surprise when the thought of being bitten while you’re asleep is so horrible. The LAD Bible recommends washing clothes and bedding on a high heat then tumble drying them at the highest heat setting. The Sun says an expert has issued an urgent warning about bedbugs infesting cars and taxis. And one TikTok user’s solution to the ‘plague’ of bedbugs turned out to be so dangerous it could set houses on fire and ‘endanger lives’.

One family’s little boy suffered terrible bites after a break at a holiday camp. And according to MSN, sniffer dogs are being used to detect bedbugs in British hotels and homes, with the Rentokil pest control agency taking the lead. Sadly the springer spaniels ‘and other breeds’ being used to track the bugs down can only find them, not kill them. And a woman has been spotted in a full hazmat suit on board the Eurostar.

The outbreak is still being blamed on Paris, while in fact the bugs are infesting every country in Europe, have been for millennia, and are probably doing their thing right now in every nation on the planet. The Mirror claims bedbugs like to hide in the oddest places including inside stuffed animals, purses, and fluorescent light bulbs. They go on to say the bugs are ‘already hiding’ in ‘dozens’ of homes in Swindon.

Wales Online recommends not keeping ‘clutter’ next to your bed, not bringing second hand furniture in without checking it, and always examining your luggage before taking it indoors after a holiday in a country where there are bedbugs. Other newspapers claim we all need to be ‘vigilant and proactive’, and one bright spark says baking soda will kill them off by ‘cutting into a bed bug’s shell’.

It’s difficult to get to grips with the truth in a situation like this, where panic seems to have taken hold. But one fact remains the same whatever the media says: our UVC disinfection lamps kill bedbugs and their eggs quickly and efficiently with no need for nasty chemicals, special dogs, hazmat suits or baking soda.

Some bedbug science
Bedbugs aren’t new on the human scene. In August 2020 a report revealed signs of bedbugs in piles of 227,000-year-old grass bedding, Apparently the bedding was arranged on top of ash from a fire, which the ancient occupants maybe thought would help keep the insects at bay.

The latest infestations aren’t new, either. Those in power have had decades of warnings. In January 1990 research revealed how bedbugs were making their way into towns and cities around the world. 2002 saw warnings about bed bugs hiding in second hand stuff from car boot sales. In April 2009 there were reports of a dramatic resurgence in bedbugs, this time so bad it forced the US Environmental Protection Agency to hold the world’s first ever Bedbug Summit.

January 2011 saw reports about bedbug resistance to pesticides, and later the same year a paper was published about bedbug genetic analysis, showing how a mass building-wide infestation could be started off by just one pregnant female bug.

Reassuringly, while bedbugs can carry the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), there’s no evidence that the bugs can pass the infection on... yet.

Our portable UVC disinfection units kill bedbugs and their eggs FAST!
There are some very ‘interesting’ tips out there about staying bedbug-safe. Some are verging on crazy. Luckily you can rely on our powerful, affordable UVC units to kill off bedbugs and their eggs in your hotel, pub, theatre, cinema, boarding school, shop, B&B, or any other premises where you want to keep your employees, visitors, suppliers and customers safe from bites.

Viral disinfection lowdown –Threats, immunities, and jabs

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 11:00:00 GMT

If you’ve been wondering if and when the next tranche of covid jabs is due for vulnerable people, there’s a story that’ll interest you: Moderna's improved mRNA covid vaccine is doing an excellent job at lower doses. It looks a lot like babies aged 4 months to 2 years old who have had covid may be more likely to suffer a certain type of diabetes. And covid antibodies could provide partial immunity to SARS and MERS. Let’s explore.

‘Streamlined’ Moderna covid vaccine proves a winner
The new, streamlined version of Moderna’s covid vaccine has been proven to be effective at lower doses than the original jabs and lasts twice as long in the fridge.

The first human trial gave people just a tenth of the standard dose, and the reaction was just as good as a full dose. Named mRNA-1283, the results are very encouraging. Now the new vaccine has entered the late-stage clinical trial stage.

Apparently studies prove that the most effective covid antibodies attach themselves to one of just two important places on the spike protein. One site is the place that sticks to human cells. When an antibody binds to it, it can’t stick to our cells. So there’s actually no need to generate antibodies to fight the rest of the spike protein.

The new vaccine mRNA-1283 is a two-jab vaccine. Half the mRNA coding attacks key sites from the original covid virus, the other half deals with the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants. When more variants arise, it can be tweaked to target them. In the meantime, the most recent mRNA boosters being rolled out in the UK are likely to be stockpiled vaccines that were created to target older variants.

Covid could mean a bigger risk of diabetes in kids
We’ve seen a clear rise in diabetes cases linked to covid, and we still don’t understand the mechanism that makes it happen. Is covid linked to a higher risk of Type 1 diabetes in babies and toddlers? It looks like it could be.

Sometimes the human body can develop an autoimmune response, producing unhelpful autoantibodies that attack the body. If there’s a lot of them they can go on to trigger the onset of Type 1 diabetes, which means the body can’t make enough insulin. Children aged 4 months to 2 years look like they’re more likely to have antibodies that attack the cells that make insulin when they’ve had covid, suggesting viral infections can lead to the disease.

The team studied 885 children 4 months and 2 years old, all of whom had a small risk of developing the problematic autoantibodies. 170 of the children had covid antibodies, which meant they’d had covid at some point. Those with covid antibodies had double the risk of developing problem autoantibodies, and children who’d had a case of covid before 18 months of age had a 5-10 times bigger risk.

There’s a chance that vaccinating children from 6 months of age might stop the autoimmunity problem, and that’s what the scientists will be looking into next.

Do covid antibodies make us partly immune to SARS and MERS?
SARS and MERS are a lot more dangerous than covid. On the bright side it looks like people who’ve either had covid or been vaccinated against it might get partial protection against ‘most’ other coronaviruses.

In 2002 a SARS outbreak in China killed one in ten people before it was stopped. MERS can kill 1 in 3 of us, making it very dangerous. The team members who made the discovery are delighted. While the level of immunity can’t prevent infection, it will probably protect us against serious illness and death.

When you catch a cold you’re only immune to that very specific cold coronavirus. So the scientists aren’t sure why a covid infection provides much wider immunity to other coronaviruses. As one of the team said, “I think the pandemic changed a lot. A lot of us have circulating antibodies that cross-react and a lot of us have immune memory that can cross-react.”

The study might help create new vaccines giving stronger-than-ever protection against the entire family of coronaviruses, and that would be truly amazing – the perfect complement to our highly reliable, fast and efficient UVC virus-killer technologies.

The Impact of Ultraviolet Light on Survival and Behavior of the Human Bed Bug

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:21:52 GMT

Cimex lectularius Linnaeus

How to kill bedbugs? Our UVC units kill bed bugs FAST!
You’ll have heard the news from France about an invasion of biting bed bugs that are probably making their way over here, hiding in holidaymakers’ suitcases and lurking in the fabric of train and aeroplane seating.

If you’ve ever been bitten by one you’ll know how disgusting it is. So what can you do to protect your business against the invasion, which is more or less inevitable given the constant stream of travellers between here and there? Read on to find out how to kill bedbugs fast and effectively.

First, what are bedbugs?
Bedbugs hide in bed frames, mattresses, bedding and clothing, inside furniture, behind picture frames, and anywhere else away from daylight. They tend to bite exposed skin while you’re asleep, leaving little spots of blood on your bedding from the bites and brown spots of bedbug poop. It’s revolting, and it’s very bad for business to have your visitors, guests, residents, staff or customers bitten.

The whys, wheres, and hows of the bedbug invasion
France has been forced to close seven schools so far because of bedbug invasions. As reported in The Guardian, they were found ‘at various levels’ in 17 institutions. And ten percent of French households are thought to have a bedbug issue, costing several hundred Euros a pop in pest control fees every time there’s an outbreak. Because it’s impossible to kill them all the traditional way, there’s always a risk they’ll be back.

The ‘plague’ of bedbugs currently affecting Paris and other French cities is raising PR worries about the 2024 Olympic Games. But in fact their numbers have been steadily increasing for several years, with a boom during the July and August holiday season when the bugs hitch a lift in people’s luggage. Every year there’s been an increase, and the annual increase is always bigger than the year before.

These days bedbugs are everywhere, right across Europe and beyond thanks to a combination of container ships, tourism, and the way we’ve dealt with bedbugs so far – which has helped worsen the situation in the long term.

Chemicals like DDT, now banned, made things worse by killing off the insects most susceptible to chemicals and leaving those with immunity behind. This means today’s bedbugs are often a lot more resistant than their ancestors. The decline in the bedbug-eating cockroach hasn’t helped, leaving the bugs free to do their thing.

Traditional ways of dealing with bedbugs don’t work well
The Eurostar is currently boosting its cleaning routine to try to stop the bugs travelling to the UK but it’s an impossible task. The bugs are tiny, they hide in very small spaces, and they’re likely to be well and truly here already.

If you think you have bedbugs at your business, they’ll be pretty hard to find because they hide so well. And that means it can be very difficult to get rid of them. A good pest control service might be your first thought, but they’ll probably struggle, too. And it can get horribly expensive. Luckily UVC light kills bedbugs fast and efficiently.

‘Remarkable evidence’
An independent research thesis from the USA, which has an ongoing bedbug problem, has examined the effectiveness of UVC light in killing bedbugs, and it has come up with some startlingly good results.

The report is called The Impact of Ultraviolet Light on Survival and Behavior of the Human Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius Linnaeus and it was undertaken by the undergraduate colleges of Ohio State University. As it says:

“Currently no individual control measure, chemical or otherwise, has proven to be one hundred percent effective in the removal of bed bugs from domestic structures. Alternative methods of control are needed to aid in a broader removal strategy. Ultraviolet light as a control tactic for arthropods is a new concept only now being explored.

UV light is known to damage DNA; however, its various effects on arthropods have not been well documented. This study examines the impact of ultraviolet light on bed bug survival and behavior, and is a first step in determining the potential of ultraviolet light as a control measure.

Two developmental stages of Cimex lectularius, the egg and the first nymphal instar, were exposed to ultraviolet light for periods of 1, 2, 5, or 10 sec at a distance of 4 cm. A dose response curve was created by calculating mortality following an interval of 2 weeks. Behavioral observations were also conducted to assess the effects of UV exposure on the hostseeking abilities of first instar nymphs.

The nymphs were exposed for periods of 5 or 10 sec then released to search for a human host from a distance of 34 cm. The success rates and search times were recorded. Results of both experiments indicate UV light negatively impacts bed bug survival and host-seeking abilities.”

Should you stick to traditional ways of killing bed bugs?
The report suggests it’s not much use reverting to old-school methods. As it says:

“Since pesticide applications are only partially effective in removing bed bugs from a structure, they are typically combined with other control methods such as heat or steam treatments (Bonnefoy, et al., 2008). Other physical controls such as vacuuming or laundering items at high temperatures are also common strategies (Krinsky, 2009).

“Bed bug removal is a complicated and expensive process that almost always requires multiple treatments to ensure complete eradication from a structure (Potter, 2008). As no single tactic is one hundred percent effective in eliminating infestations on its own, a combination of control methods must be used in an Integrated Pest Management approach (Bonnefoy et al., 2008)”

Our UVC portable 600w unit destroys bed bugs
The fact UVC is so effective in bedbug control is great news when removal by physical or chemical means is a challenge and sprays or fogging simply don't work. UVC blasts them dead, a reliable solution to bedbug infestations.

The evidence is quite remarkable; just ten seconds of exposure has a profound impact on the creatures, giving the team a 95% treatment mortality rate on bedbug eggs, which proved to be the insects’ most vulnerable stage.

5 and 10 second exposures to UVC were particularly devastating to the egg hatch rate, with almost no subjects surviving
The prediction that longer exposure times would induce higher mortality was supported by results in the nymphs
5 and 10 sec exposures significantly decreased the host-seeking success rate in first instar nymphs
The prediction that a longer exposure time would result in a greater decrease in hostseeking success was also supported
The project strongly suggests that UV light is effective in killing bed bugs, and in impairing their ability to reach a host

Our high intensity 600w portable UVC disinfection units are totally devastating for bedbugs, applying the ideal Time, Intensity and Distance to do a brilliant job.

Save time, save money, save your business – This is how to kill bedbugs
If you’re worried about bedbugs getting into your hotel, the trains your network runs, your care home, hospital, clinic, theatre, cinema or school, you need UVC to kill bedbugs and their eggs, and damage any survivors so badly they struggle to find someone to bite.

We’ll leave the final word to the study, which concludes: “This project strongly suggests that UV light is effective, both in killing bed bugs, and in impairing their ability to reach a host.”

If you’d like to know more about the tech or the study, or talk about the potential of our low-cost, low running cost, high efficiency UVC disinfection units with an expert, please call us. or contact us via the webform

A*STAR research proves the impact of UVC on coronaviruses

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 11:00:01 GMT

Coronaviruses are a group of RNA viruses responsible for illnesses in people, mammals and birds. The most recent ancestor of all the coronaviruses on the planet is thought to date back to around 10,000 years ago, but other research hints that these viruses have been around for at least 55 million years and probably co-evolved with bats and birds.

In birds and humans coronaviruses tend to cause respiratory infections, anything from something mild like the common cold to deadly diseases like SARS, MERS, and covid itself. In cattle and pigs coronaviruses cause the runs, and in mice they cause hepatitis and encephalomyelitis.

We’ve known FAR UVC light kills coronaviruses for a long time, with studies going back almost 100 years. Now a team has carried out head-to-head testing on a collection of different disinfection methods using ultraviolet light to pinpoint the best way to deactivating coronaviruses.

Avoiding the risks you face from mercury in old UVC lamps
UVC light makes viruses inactive by destroying their RNA and DNA. And that’s why innovative irradiation technologies like ours are so popular these days, a lot safer and more efficient than the old-school 254 nm UVC mercury lamps used in healthcare settings. After all, nobody really wants mercury in a setting where people gather. It’s incredibly nasty stuff.
So how do the various modern ways of harnessing UVC light compare to each other when it comes to killing off coronaviruses?

Testing UVC wavelengths against each other
The team was led by Research Director Weiping Han and Senior Scientist Qunxiang Ong at A*STAR Research’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, along with the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing and Technology.

The study represented the first head-to-head analysis of a variety of UVC wavelengths against two of the coronaviruses affecting humans: hCOV-OC43, whose spike protein is very like SARS-CoV-2, and hCoV-229E, which is a lot like the common cold.

The team tested three UVC light sources: 277 nm UVC LED, 222 nm far UVC, and a traditional 254 nm UVC mercury lamp on the coronaviruses.

The results
The 277 nm UVC LED performed better than the other UVC wavelengths tested. The 254 nm UVC mercury lamp caused more damage to the virus’ genomes, but 277 nm UVC LED delivered a more dramatic degradation of the spike protein, the proteins responsible for viral transmission. And this probably explains why 277 nm UVC LED is ‘more effective in deactivating coronaviruses.’

There’s more. Because 277 nm UVC LEDs are so easy to use in portable devices and fitted units like ours, you need shorter irradiation times - and there’s no risky mercury in the equation.

The take-away? The impact of UVC disinfection depends on the way different wavelengths interact with the various components inside a virus. And this means our tech can help prepare the nation for dealing with outbreaks and pandemics in future.

News roundup

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:00:01 GMT

Food-borne infections

It’s rare for a week to go by without a serious food-related infection being reported. Because we live in a global economy, some of them manage to spread around the globe in record time. The recent outbreak of Salmonella originating in Poland, for example, has now made at least 130 people ill across 11 different countries. It just goes to show how vital it is for the food sector to keep on top of viral, bacterial and other threats. Let’s take a look at the latest crop.

Salmonella makes more than 30 people ill in Wales
A Salmonella Infantis outbreak in Wrexham that has made 33 people ill, with one more ‘probable’ case on the cards, has been traced to a pub in the town. But despite thorough investigation and testing, the precise source and route hasn’t been pinned down.

Investigations into the outbreak, back in July, were handled by a special Outbreak Control Team set up by Public Health Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and Wrexham County Borough Council environmental health team. All 33 cases were genetically identical. The pub closed voluntarily for a deep clean and staff testing, and no more cases have turned up since.

It’s hard to spot Salmonella because food contaminated by it looks, smells, and tastes fine. Babies, children, senior people and those with weakened immune systems are all at higher risk of serious illness. It’s vital to see your GP if you get Salmonella-like symptoms because it can save lives. It takes a special test to identify it, and since the symptoms are very like other illnesses it’s easy to mis-diagnose.

Poland’s contaminated chicken scandal goes international
Last time we reported on this dramatic outbreak, there were just a few cases. Now over 130 people have fallen ill in 11 different countries thanks to contaminated chicken meat from Poland.

Analysis by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has examined two major sub-clusters of Salmonella, pinning it down as Salmonella Enteritidis, the type most frequently found in Europe.

One cluster of 97 cases includes 22 in Denmark, 19 in France and 12 each in Ireland and the Netherlands, 9 in Norway, 6 each in Austria and Belgium, 5 in Finland, 3 in Slovenia, 2 in Sweden and 1 in Germany. 19 of the Denmark cases were traced back to chicken kebab or pizza. In Austria, two patients reported they ate chicken kebabs within seven days of the onset of symptoms, and two more had also eaten chicken dishes.

Last week the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration found Salmonella in a batch of frozen chicken kebab meat from Poland. It has been taken off the market. The problem might be that the chicken was supposed to be given extra heat treatment before being cooked – but wasn’t. Most worrying of all, the majority of the isolates tested were resistant to Ciprofloxacin, the usual antibiotic used to fight Salmonella.

Bacterial outbreaks in Hong Kong
As reported by Food safety News , two suspected food poisoning clusters have hit five people in Hong Kong, causing abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and fever about 15 hours after eating at a restaurant. Two people have been hospitalised.

Arkansas E.Coli outbreak finally at an end
It looks like the recent University of Arkansas E. Coli outbreak appears to be slowing down, now past its peak. With no new patients since 25th August, officials are hoping the outbreak is coming to an end after 42 patients were identified and four were hospitalised. As we write, two people were still in hospital.

The university’s public dining facilities have been cleared as not responsible after the State health department surveyed 3,200 people to find out more. 37 of the cases have been identified as probably E.Coli, 5 have been confirmed, and officials are still investigating.

Ice cream recalled in NYC
In New York City an ice cream outlet has voluntarily recalled all of its dairy ice cream and non-dairy frozen dessert products until potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes has been dealt with. The products have been recalled in Brooklyn, and in supermarkets across New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. Two infected people have been hospitalised but so far nobody has died.

Fit our UVC disinfection tech in your food sector premises... and relax
Did you know our UVC disinfection units can be fitted easily and quickly above your food sector production line, packaging lines, and anywhere else where contamination might bring the business to its knees?

Our units are surprisingly affordable to buy and run, virtually maintenance-free as well as environmentally friendly.

Want proof of UVC disinfection?

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 10:59:18 GMT

No problem!

If you haven’t heard of UVC disinfection, it’s good to know that UV light has been used for decades to help keep healthcare settings clean and safe. But what about our units? You can check out the relevant certificates and reports, all undertaken by professional testing bodies, on our site. Click to this page to see our SUT reports , here to see our SGS report , here to see our UEA Report into the Antimicrobial Potential of UVC and here for a long list of vital reports and certificates. Let’s take a look at what they involve.

UVC sanitisation SUT reports
The Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, promotes the development of fundamental, applied and industrial research in chemistry, biotechnology and environmental science.
Their emphasis on innovation, industry collaboration, and multidisciplinary research sends them in all sorts of exciting directions including microbiology, cell biology, and environmental biotechnology. They tested our mobile 4 x head @ 200W unit in both a consulting room setting and a dental clinic setting.

UVC sanitisation SGS report
SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services Company Ltd is a world-leading, highly respected testing, inspection and certification service. They began life way back in the 1870s in Rouen, France, as a docklands grain inspection house. Now they’re recognised as the global benchmark for sustainability, quality and integrity, employing a massive 98,000 people across 2,650 offices and laboratories.
Their worldwide independent services have seen them once again included in the prestigious FTSE4Good Index for 2023. They tested our CT-4 Bay-UV-200W purification light and discovered an impressive kill rate on two of the most dangerous organisms around: E-Coli and Staphylococcus albus.

UEA report into the potential of UVC for microbial disinfection
Dr Gary Rowley, Associate Professor of Bacterial Pathogenesis & Metabolism at the University of East Anglia’s prestigious School of Biological Sciences, provided us with an expert opinion paper revealing the antimicrobial potential of UVC, and it makes a fascinating read.

UVC disinfection certificates and reports
We have a number of Test Reports, Safety Reports and Certificates of Conformity from the Shenzhen LCS Compliance Testing Laboratory Ltd. Established in 2004, LCS has been providing innovators like us with professional one-stop product testing and certification services for almost two decades. They’re known for providing dedicated, precise security control services to the inventors and manufacturers of electromechanical devices across the globe.

Proven UVC disinfection for every context, from cruise ships to shops
A legal Class Action for making people ill can cost a business millions, as well as unwelcome reputational damage. It makes sense to use our proven units to stop infections in their tracks at your premises whether you run a theatre or cinema, school or clinic, public transport service, gym, office or any other indoor space where people gather.

Global virus news

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:52:02 GMT

This is why you need UVC light disinfection

The WHO says covid isn’t a global health emergency any more, which is excellent news. On the other hand a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 called BA.2.86 has been found in several countries. The variant is worrying because of the multiple genetic differences it has developed compared to other variants. At the same time there’s the Eris covid variant to think about, and Legionnaires’ disease has hit Poland hard with 11 deaths so far. Here’s the news.

All about Covid variant BA.2.86
The covid variant BA.2.86 comes with over 30 amino acid changes to its spike protein, making it different enough to be named ‘genetically distant’ from BA.2. It has 58 changes compared to the original 2019 covid variant, and although the origin is a mystery experts say it has the hallmarks of a virus that has been busy morphing itself inside a chronically infected person.

So far there are 13 known human BA.2.86 cases split across Israel, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States, Portugal and South Africa. It has also been found at extremely low levels in waste water in the US, Switzerland, Denmark and Thailand.

So far one person has been hospitalized but everyone infected is still alive. Because none of them have had contact with each other it looks like it’s already a worldwide variant that’s spreading fast. Nobody knows if it’ll out-compete the Eris variant, but we should know more ‘in a few weeks’. One thing is clear, however – it’s growing ever-more likely that we’ll need to keep updating our vaccines.

An update on the Covid EG.5 Eris variant
According to New Scientist magazine, recorded covid cases around the world are going up fast, including in the UK. The World Health Organization is treating the new variant responsible for the rise, Eris, as a variant of interest and governments have been advised to keep a careful eye on its progress. There’s also an EG.5.1 version with an extra spike protein.

Eris is a descendant of Omicron and is also closely related to the XBB.1.9.2 omicron sub variant. The new symptoms to look out for are diarrhoea, rashes and eye irritation. Reports of the new variant are surging, and it looks like it is fast becoming the dominant variant in many countries. At the moment it accounts for at least 14% of UK cases.

The WHO says that so far, the health risks are no more severe than other omicron sub variants. It does, however, have a clear ‘transmission advantage’ over other dominant variants, which means it might be able to evade immunity from previous jabs.

EG.5 usually causes a fever, cough, fatigue and loss of taste or smell along with a sore throat, headache, aches and pains, diarrhoea, rashes and eye irritation, and a mild case usually disappears within two weeks. At-risk people will be offered vaccinations in the months to come, important because we haven’t had jabs for a while and the nation’s immunity levels are dropping fast.

Deadly Legionnaire’s disease outbreak kills 11
An ongoing outbreak of Legionnaires' disease has killed 11 people in the town of Rzeszow on the Ukrainian border, making it clear that this isn’t a disease to treat lightly. At the same time the controversial asylum seeker barge at Portland Harbour in Dorset remains closed.

Ongoing UK bird flu outbreak causes concern
Like every other expert, Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, knows there’ll be another pandemic – it’s just a matter of when. She’s worried about bird flu, which is now endemic in the wild bird population. We have millions of chickens and turkeys effectively in lockdown because the only way to keep them safe is to keep them indoors. And right now there are enough ‘signals’ to see a pattern emerging.

The fact that there’s a visible pattern isn’t good because of the range of mutations experts are seeing, which brings the risk of bird flu jumping into humans so much closer. We’re also at more risk than ever of bird flu jumping into mammals then onwards into humans.

Act now, feel confident when things go wrong again
Every expert says it’s just a matter of time. To protect your business from the next pandemic, whatever it might be, talk to our professionals about fitting easy, low cost, highly effective UVC disinfection units to kill viruses, bacteria, spores, mould and more fast and efficiently, keeping infections at bay.

The latest on the magic of far-UVC light

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 14:33:20 GMT

All over the world businesses are using UVC disinfection units to keep customers and visitors safer. In Singapore UV bots very like ours ‘capable of tearing apart strands of virus DNA’ are quietly cleaning malls and hospitals, killing off a vast variety of viruses, moulds, spores, bacteria and more, quickly and efficiently.

Various UVC-inspired services are available too, for example the mattress cleaning company whose three stage process includes step 2: ‘disinfecting mattresses using a UVC sterilisation unit’ . And in the New York Times there’s an ad for an ultraviolet disinfection lamp that ‘sanitises any room in seconds’ .

The latest peer-reviewed research reveals once more the potential use of far-UVC light for preventing airborne virus transmission practically and simply. UV irradiation is clearly a safe and convenient method for inactivating and eliminating disease-causing micro-organisms and the wavelength range of 200-235 nm, called far-UVC, is particularly effective.

It’s all good news. And there’s more from Physics World, suggesting that dual-wavelength tech should be able to deactivate antibiotic resistant bacterium. It’s an exciting development when antibiotic resistance is one of the most pressing issues facing modern medicine.

New Zealand team cracks antibiotic resistance with far-UVC and LED light
Scientists in New Zealand have blended two different wavelengths of light to deactivate a bacterium that has developed resistance to some of the world’s most popular antibiotics.

The team combined far-UVC light at 222 nm and blue LED light at 405 nm to deactivate an antibiotic-resistant bacterium called ‘specifically extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESBL) Escherichia coli’, revealing the results in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. Apparently the impact is a lot more effective than using the wavelengths individually. The team says it works because the blue light initially damages the bacterial cells, making them more vulnerable to the far-UVC light.

The findings could be useful in fighting bacterial contamination in healthcare, food processing plants, water treatment plants and public places like airports, schools, buses and trains. The next step is to ‘fully understand the health impacts, establish optimal dosages, and ensure the technology’s safe and effective use in clinical settings’.

Compared to current disinfection methods there’s a reduced risk of antibiotic resistance in the treated bacteria, and the dual-light tech can be used to target specific areas and surfaces safely. Like our units the method is chemical-free and costs a lot less than using expensive antibiotics for bacterial control.

The team wants to eventually collaborate with light manufacturers and industry partners to take things to the next stage, verifying the technology’s performance under real-life conditions. As the report’s co-author Amanda Gardner said to Physics World, “Overall, the dual-light technology holds great promise as a safer and more sustainable alternative to traditional chemical disinfection methods, contributing to the global efforts in combating antimicrobial resistance.”

Legionnaires disease special

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 05:15:00 GMT

How to stay safe from Legionnaires

The news from Portland, just off Weymouth, is grim. The water system on board the Bibby Stockholm barge has been found to contain the Legionnaire’s disease bacterium, which causes a type of pneumonia. The government apparently knew about the risk before the barge was evacuated, putting all 39 asylum seekers on board at serious risk. So what is the disease, and how can you protect people against it at your place?

About legionella
The bacterium L. pneumophila was first identified in 1977, when it caused an outbreak of serious pneumonia in a USA convention centre. Since then it has been found in water systems inside buildings around the world. The easiest way to catch it is to breathe in small particles of bacteria via contaminated water sprays, jets, mists, or even ice.

Legionnaire’s symptoms and treatment
There’s antibiotic treatment for legionnaires disease, but no vaccine. Like so many diseases it impacts the vulnerable most of all – and it tends to affect males and those aged over 50 the most. The incubation period is usually 2 to 10 days but can run for as long as 16 days.
Luckily most of the time the illness isn’t serious. But if there’s a delay in diagnosis or treatment or it’s left untreated, it gets steadily worse throughout the first week. If you get a bad dose or you’re vulnerable you can end up with progressive pneumonia with respiratory failure, shock and multi-organ failure – which leads to death.

Poorly maintained water systems are often the cause
Worldwide, waterborne Legionella pneumophila is the most common cause of the disease. It’s widely associated with poorly maintained artificial water systems like the one inside the barge. Nobody knows how much of it you need to breathe in before you get ill, but the infective dose is likely to be pretty low for susceptible people, with only a short exposure time.
The likelihood of illness depends on how much legionella is in the water, the virulence of the strain and the vulnerability of the people it infects. Air conditioning cooling towers, hot and cold water systems, humidifiers and whirlpool spas, breathing in contaminated water or ice are all implicated.

Legionella symptoms and death rate
The initial symptoms can include a mild cough or bloody phlegm, fever, loss of appetite, headache, malaise and lethargy, sometimes with muscle pain, diarrhoea and confusion.
The most common complications are respiratory failure, shock, acute kidney failure and multi-organ failure. Recovery depends on antibiotic treatment and can take several weeks or even months.
The death rate can be as high as 40–80% in untreated immuno-suppressed people, but the overall death rate usually falls somewhere between 5–10%.

Our UVC disinfection units kill legionella bacteria
Water safety plans are key to safety. Responsible organisations carry out regular monitoring of control measures set in place against the risk that has been identified, plus good maintenance, regular cleaning and disinfection via high temperature treatments and chemical biocides... or you could keep people safe the simple way using our UVC units.

As revealed by our UVC kill list, our UVC disinfection units kill legionella fast and efficiently. It’s just one of an enormous list of health threats that are made safe by our technology – which is affordable, effective, simple, proven - and really easy and safe to use.

The UK’s latest ongoing ‘deadly outbreak’ of E. Coli

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 10:00:00 GMT

There’s been another deadly outbreak of E. Coli in the UK. According to Food safety News, one person has died in the latest ongoing E. coli outbreak, currently being investigated by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to pin down the source.

So far we’ve seen a total of 24 UK cases: 19 in England, 2 in Northern Ireland, 2 in Scotland, and 1 in Wales since May 2023. The start dates for people’s infections range from late May to 2nd July 2023.

People have been reporting serious symptoms like bloody diarrhoea, eight went to hospital, and six of the eight were kept in hospital. The age of the people varies from babies to the elderly, with the worst-affected group being children aged nine or less. One person ended up with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome and there’s been one death.

So far officials haven’t found the origin despite detailed epidemiological investigations. Suspect foods, however, include grated hard cheese, strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon.

About E. Coli O183
This kind of E. Coli, called E. coli O183, is extremely rare. We’ve only seen 15 UK cases since 2016. It can be spread via direct or indirect contact with animals or environments where animals live, through contaminated food or water, or person-to-person.

How to keep safe from E. Coli
Washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water is the most reliable way to stop E. Coli from spreading. If your child catches it, you’ll need to keep them at home until they’ve been free from sickness and diarrhoea for two days. If you’re not feeling well, it’s important to avoid visiting a hospital or a care home.

E. Coli can look like a lot of other illnesses, so you’ll need a special test from your doctor to confirm whether you have it. Watch out for severe stomach cramps and often-bloody diarrhoea, which can be accompanied by a fever. You should feel better in 5-7 days but complications are experienced by 5-10% of people.

Our units kill E. Coli fast and efficiently!
In the foodservice sector? Run a family attraction with animals? Maybe you’re just keen to keep people safe on your premises? Our UCV units make short work of killing E. Coli, damaging the bacterium’s DNA and RNA so it can’t reproduce. The tech is affordable, efficient, chemical-free, safe, and comes with virtually no maintenance. If that sounds like a sensible business move, let’s talk.

What’s happening to Covid?

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 14:57:30 GMT

About the Eris variant

Do you have a runny nose, a headache, mild or serious fatigue, sneezes or a sore throat? It might not be a regular summer cold. It could be Eris, the latest covid variant doing the rounds. Here’s what you need to know.

About the covid Eris variant
A new covid variant is spreading across the UK, called EG.5.1 or Eris. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says this relative of Omicron makes up 14.6% of new cases, now the second most prevalent variant in the UK.

The UKHSA has been monitoring Eris closely and it looks like cases are increasing internationally too, particularly in Asia where it was officially named a new variant on 31st July. So will it overtake the current most dominant strain, Arcturus XBB.1.16, which makes up just over 39% of cases at the moment?

The new Eris variant is spreading fast, which helps explain the recent hike in UK cases and hospitalisations. By September, when the schools go back, experts say it’s likely to be the dominant UK variant.

Increasing covid cases
Covid cases have been shooting up over the past week or so, with an increased covid hospital admission rate of 1.97 per 100,000 of us, up from 1.17 per 100,000 in the previous UKHSA report. There’s been an increase in hospitalisation across every age group so far, but it’s particularly affecting the elderly. As we write, Intensive Care Unit admissions haven’t gone up.

What the WHO says
The World Health Organisation began watching Eris just over two weeks ago. They say that even though people are better protected by vaccines and prior infection, we shouldn’t let down our guard. If you’re at high risk you’ll need to wear a mask in crowded places, get all your booster jabs, and make sure there’s ‘adequate ventilation indoors’. The WHO is also encouraging governments not to take down the systems they put in place to handle covid, because they’ll probably still be needed.

Is there an Eris hot-spot in the UK?
According to Sky, the south west of England has the highest infection rate at the moment. The ZOE health app is proving essential in tracking the spread, revealing around 790,000 people in the UK who use the app have symptomatic covid at the moment. ZOE data shows there’s been a 30% rise in daily cases since the start of July. Boots agrees – they’re seeing sales of covid tests up by more than a third.

In the south west of England we’re seeing anything from 931 to 1,628 new cases every day per million people, with Wales coming a close second. The lowest rates at the moment are in Yorkshire and the Humber. But because the government doesn’t fund reliable and comprehensive infection data from the Office for National Statistics any more, the data isn’t as reliable as it could be.

Low cost, simple, totally effective covid killer tech
Humans in general are pretty bad at planning for the future, and The Guardian highlights how the UK is ‘flying blind’ when it comes to handling covid this autumn. It’s clear the virus isn’t going away, and as a business owner it makes a lot of sense to future-proof your business.

Get an edge over your competitors by fitting our units and killing covid before it causes problems for your employees and customers. It’s low cost, easy to fit, no maintenance, very safe – and totally reliable.

About antibiotic resistant superbugs – And how to kill them

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:15:33 GMT

Superbugs aren’t super. They’re horrible! This time we’re exploring superbugs, the harmful bacteria that have developed resistance to at least one of the antibiotics usually used to treat them. Mostly found in healthcare settings and causing more deaths every year, there’s an ongoing battle to find ways to treat them.

Fortunately UVC light kills bacteria by destroying their DNA and RNA, which means healthcare settings can be made a lot safer. While the threats we’re about to mention don’t all appear on our UVC kill list , there’s no reason why they won’t be rendered harmless just as effectively as any other bacterium by a fast, powerful dose of UVC at the perfect wavelength - which is why healthcare settings have used UVC disinfection to keep patients and workers safe since the 1930s.

Multidrug-resistant bacteria - MRSA
MRSA is resistant to several popular antibiotics, in particular the penicillin antibiotic methicillin. It usually lives harmlessly on human skin but once in the bloodstream can colonise and cause damage deep inside: in heart valves, bones, operation wounds and around medical devices. MRSA can be deadly.

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter
Found naturally in soil and water, the Acinetobacter baumannii variant is responsible for about 80% of illnesses caused by this kind of bacterium. Most common in intensive care units and other places where people are very ill, it can lead to pneumonia, various infections, and many other conditions. In some cases there’s no effective treatment.

Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa
This is a common bacteria found in the environment, which can end up giving you ear, skin or eye infections if you pick it up from being in water. It can make people with weak immune systems very ill with severe blood, respiratory tract and wound infections. An increasing number of cases are proving impossible to treat.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae
Carbapenems are penicillin antibiotics. Enterobacteriaceae include Escherichia coli (E.coli), Klebsiella, Salmonella, Shigella and Yersinia pestis, all responsible for serious illness in older people and those with weak immune systems: endocarditis, pneumonia, dysentery and late-onset sepsis in babies are all risks. There have been some cases where no treatment is effective, which means there’s no way to stop the infection for good. The same goes for extended-spectrum ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)
The antibiotic vancomycin is often used to treat Enterococci. People are more likely to get VRE when they’ve been treated with vancomycin before, have had to take other antibiotics long-term, have a weak immune system, a permanent medical device like a catheter fitted, or have had an operation.

E.coli H30-Rx
E. coli lives in our guts and is usually harmless. There are many types of E. coli, some of which give us food poisoning and others more serious infections like cystitis and gastrointestinal infections. The H30-Rx strain is resistant to fluoroquinolones antibiotics, and for some strains there’s no effective treatment.

UVC disinfection – Perfect for care homes and healthcare settings
If your healthcare setting isn’t using UVC to disinfect the air and surfaces yet, or you’d like to protect your employees, customers and visitors from bacteria, viruses and all sorts of other health threats made harmless by UVC light, get in touch for an inspiring conversation.

Sneezes spread diseases – But how far do the droplets go?

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 09:30:00 GMT

Sneezing is a protective mechanism for our respiratory system, helping expel foreign bodies and irritants including viruses and bacteria. But sneezing also spreads illnesses when it violently expels pathogens along with air. Let’s have a good look at the sneeze, taking a scientific slant on how sneezes work and what to do about them.

What speed is a sneeze?
A sneeze can go as fast as 100 miles an hour, emerging from your nose and mouth at incredible speed. The 100 mile an hour force of a single sneeze is powerful enough to create a mini-storm of particles, which are propelled violently forwards and are usually invisible.

How far do sneezed droplets travel?
Sneezed droplets travel as far as 30 feet or 9 meters, depending on how violent the sneeze is. If you’re sitting on a bus or train, for example, the particles a big sneeze emits will quickly spread throughout the entire bus, or find its way right around a train carriage in no time.

The droplets projected outwards don’t just fill the air. They settle and land on surfaces people touch, resulting in a double-whammy of potential infection. And this has serious implications for public health as well as businesses themselves.

Where sneezes cause the most infection
Crowded spaces in schools, offices, shops, gyms, sports clubs, theatres and cinemas, and on public transport quickly spread infectious particles, leading to the rapid spread of the common cold, flu, and of course pandemics like covid.

Sensible sneeze precautions for individuals
Because sneezes cause potential harm to people’s health, it’s good to take sensible precautions. As the sneezer, it’s wise to cover your mouth and nose with a hand or a tissue. Hand-washing is also important, getting rid of particles stuck to your hands after you sneezed. If someone else is the sneezer, you can protect yourself by moving a safe distance away, at least six feet.

How to rob sneezing of its power
Imagine there’s a way to kill the pathogens and infectious agents that emerge from sneezing? It’s low cost to buy, easy to fit in all sorts of different circumstances, and is also cheap to run as well as environmentally responsible. There’s no heat, just cool LED bulbs at a certain special wavelength. There’s no maintenance and no chemicals, and the units are super-simple to use.

This is reality. Our units do exactly that, giving business owners the reassurance they need. Your premises will be safer for people, with a dramatically reduced risk of infections even in crowded spaces and small areas like toilets, bathrooms and lifts. It takes just a few minutes to disinfect an entire room, and some of our units are portable for easy moving around larger premises.

Fit low cost, proven, powerful UVC disinfection units
Want to know more? Get in touch for a competitive advantage that cares for your employees, customers, suppliers and visitors, and might even keep your business going when others have to close.

Food poisoning news

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 12:01:44 GMT

And how to keep your food sector business safe

Poor food storage, preparation, and hygiene all lead to food poisoning. And food poisoning can kill, as revealed by a shocking recent incident where three family members, including an eight year old boy, died of it near Mumbai in India. There’s been another food poisoning fatality, this time in Nepal, where a teen died and his brother was hospitalised. But it isn’t just something that happens abroad.

According to the Food Standards Agency there are 2.4 million cases of food poisoning in the UK every year, and it’s worse in summer simply because of higher temperatures. Here’s the food hygiene news, along with a top tip to help keep your food sector business safe from hygiene-based legal action.

Eating raw chicken in Japan comes with serious risks
As reported by the Japanese media , Japan's health ministry is asking people to be more careful after a sharp increase in food poisoning caused by Campylobacter, a bacterium found in raw and part-cooked chicken. It isn’t unusual during Japan’s rainy season, from late May to early July, but this year experts say there’s been a sudden rise, blaming it on more people eating out thanks to the relaxation of covid restrictions.

Campylobacter is frequently found in raw or not-fully-cooked meat dishes like sashimi, Korean yukhoe and lightly seared tataki, and while it isn’t usually fatal it can make older and younger people very ill. The bacteria can even leave you with Guillain-Barre syndrome, with breathing difficulties, paralysed limbs, and a paralysed face.

Campylobacter affects around 2000 people a year in Japan, leading to some regions insisting on much stricter hygiene standards around eating raw chicken, with 70% of cases arising from restaurants. The director of Japan's Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Training Centre goes further, saying it’s best not to eat raw chicken sashimi in the first place.

There are also serious financial and business ramifications to poisoning a person with food. In Japan one man left with impaired limbs was awarded around USD $710,000 in compensation.

Did you realise our low-cost, cheap to run UVC sanitisation units kill Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 43429 stone dead? It’s good to know!

The cause of a food poisoning cluster in the East of England
Earlier this year a cluster of food poisoning cases was reported in the East of England, caused by a Salmonella enteritidis infection, one of several types of salmonella killed by our UVC units within minutes. The original outbreak was traced to one restaurant, but other people infected didn’t eat there.

A research paper in Eurosurveillance reports that out of the 65 cases, 43 were linked to the restaurant, 25 of which were confirmed and 18 defined as ‘probable’. 22 more cases couldn’t be linked to the restaurant. The data also revealed bigger risks of infection among the 25 people whose food included egg or chicken

The raw eggs used in garlic mayonnaise and naan bread fell under suspicion, pinned as the ‘main source’ of the restaurant outbreak. On tracing the supplier they found the eggs came from Poland. The researchers concluded the restaurant cases came from a single exposure, either through one batch of contaminated eggs or because of ‘failure to adhere to hygiene procedures in one instance’.

Investigators have asked the restaurant owners to find another source of eggs, preferably UK-laid at a properly-certified farm.

It’s good to know our units also kill Salmonella anatum, Salmonella derby, and Salmonella infantis, all of which infect people via human poo, plus Salmonela paratyphi or Enteric fever, and Salmonella typhosa, also called Typhoid fever.

And that’s our tip for the UK’s foodservice sector and anyone else operating in the food industry: talk to our experts, fit our UVC units, and benefit from a fast and highly effective way to kill pathogens before they reach anyone’s restaurant, shop, or dinner table.

How pathogens change human culture

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 05:30:00 GMT

“The vast majority of the population at the time of the Black Death was rural peasants who suffered the highest mortality and in so doing, became much more expensive and choosy about where they worked, and how they related to lords.” (BBC)

It takes time. But once a pandemic has ended, the longer term effects come to the fore – and they can be dramatic. How has covid changed our world? We’ll know more once we can look back at it through the lens of time and see patterns emerging. But, like every other infectious disease, covid will have changed civilisation. Let’s take a look back in time and see what previous pandemics have done to alter the way we live.

Neanderthal immune systems and the agricultural revolution
Some say our evolutionary success over our close relatives the Neanderthals could have been down to the fact that homo sapiens’ immune system was stronger. Others say the Neolithic agricultural revolution helped spread pathogens which benefited some people and disadvantaged others, probably just as profoundly as the Black Death but with a subtler impact over a much longer timescale.

As humanity moved from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled farming life, scientists reckon a ‘golden age for viruses, microbes and other animals’ was ushered in, causing an epidemiological revolution just as dramatic as the agricultural revolution itself. Take a look inside our DNA and the markers from those ancient times are still here, revealed by a host of genetic adaptations dating back to the start of the agricultural system we still live with today.

Religious upheavals and history-changing financial failures
The Antonine and Cyprianic plagues, way back in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, might have driven Christianity to morph from something small and obscure to a global religion. Can you imagine how different the world would be without it? In the 1600s an early Scottish trading post in Central America was devastated by yellow fever, ruining Scotland’s finances and ultimately leading to it merging with England. Without those plagues, it might never have happened.

How the Black Death changed society
The Black Death was a horror show of epic proportions, but it also helped Western society throw off its feudal, religious roots, replaced by something entirely new – a capitalist, secular culture where many ordinary people’s lives improved dramatically. We're no longer serfs, treated like possessions for the rich to use and discard. We had new value as workers.

Nature fights back
It’s clear that infectious diseases have driven political and economic change for thousands of years. In this respect, covid isn’t anything special. On the other hand when you roll climate change and over-population into the equation, we’re seeing nature fighting back. Pandemics are more likely than ever, and as the author of a brilliant book on the subject, Jonathan Kennedy, says, humanity has found itself in “a very precarious position… surrounded by innumerable viruses and bacteria that are mutating all the time”.

Faced with this increasing existential threat of infectious disease, it’s vital to protect ourselves – and prepare intelligently for the next pandemic, which isn’t an ‘if’ but a ‘when’.

Know more about the past, plan for the future
If you’d like to know more, read Pathogenesis: How germs made history by Jonathan Kennedy, who teaches global public health at Queen Mary University of London. You can expect a fascinating journey through 50,000 years of world history, all rolled into a thrilling story revealing the role of infectious diseases in shaping humanity.

Can you play a part in ensuring we’re safe next time around? The answer’s yes. Contact us to talk about how to keep your business, suppliers, visitors and customers safe from pathogens using clean, low-cost, highly effective UVC light that trashes their DNA and RNA so they can’t reproduce.

Which UVC disinfection unit: CT-X1, CT-X2 or CT-X3?

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 09:00:00 GMT

Ultra Violet light is invisible to the human eye. UV-C light in the 200-280nm range is a known disinfectant for air, surfaces and objects. The light breaks down the DNA and RNA inside pathogens so they can’t replicate and cause disease. The tech has been safely used in places with a risk of microbiological contamination for more than four decades.

Our hard-working upper air germicidal units deliver clean air as standard, integrated simply into the fabric of your building to give the best protection to the people in the space, allowing better productivity and a dramatic fall in sick days.

We have a suite of UVC disinfection units designed to keep spaces safe, clean and fresh. It’s so much better than a basic UV tube, which you can only use in well-ventilated places, gives off ozone, and can’t be used when people are in the area.

So which model will suit your premises best? Let’s explore the options.

The CT-X1 LED UV upper air steriliser
The CT-X1 unit stays on all the time to safely, constantly disinfect the upper air that’s naturally circulated, protecting people in the area. This kind of continual disinfection is perfect for shared offices, schools, healthcare settings, sports dressing rooms and shops. Installing them above people’s heads stops the cross contamination of viruses and germs, slashing the air’s viral load without an air circulating system.

The CT-X2 UVC LED Ceiling Air Circulating Purification Lamp
The CT-X2 includes an air circulation system, also offering continuous air sterilisation and purification even when there are people around, and doing it completely safely. Our CT-X1 and CT-X2 units can both be used in any space to sterilise the area in the presence of people.

CT-X3 UVC LED Ceiling Surface & Air Purification Lamp
Like the CT-X1 and CT-X2, our CT-X3 unit disinfects the upper air. It also features a direct light that opens and shuts via a motion detector. The makes it perfect for places like changing rooms and toilets. If the cubicle is empty the light switches on. When someone enters the space the light automatically switches off, while the upper air will still be continually disinfected.

In short...

The X1 relies on naturally occurring convection for continuous air disinfection
The X2’s mechanical extraction delivers silent air circulation
The X3 integrates surface and air sterilisation by combining direct line of sight disinfection and continuous upper air disinfection

The benefits of our LED UVC disinfection units

No chemicals
Sustainable
Easy to fit
Zero maintenance
Cool LED lamps
Cheap to run
No ozone
No smell
People-friendly
Safe
Stylish, simple looks
Suitable for every space
Each model is available in an industry standard 600mm or 300mm square ceiling tile

Which UVC disinfecting unit is best for your premises?
You might find a combination of the three CX-style units will suit you best. To make the most of this excellent tech, get in touch for an inspiring discussion.

Stop the productivity slump with powerful UVC disinfection

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:30:00 GMT

According to the UN, covid cost the world ‘the equivalent of 255 million jobs’ in 2020, almost four times the jobs lost during the 2009 global financial crisis. Here in the UK, the ONS says those with the highest rates of sickness absence during 2022 included women, older workers, those with long-term health conditions, people working part-time, and people working in care, leisure, and other service occupations.

In December 2022 the Telegraph reported how respiratory infections like colds, ‘super colds’, and flu were causing more work absences than covid. In the last week in November 2022, 1,043,965 working days were lost in the UK to coughs, colds and flu, costing the economy £143 million according to the employee wellness and performance analysis experts at Goodshape. And, again according to the ONS , respiratory conditions overtook mental health issues as the fourth biggest reason for being off sick through 2022, more than twice the number seen before the pandemic.

Food-borne illnesses are also having a profound effect on sickness absence and consumer health. As the Microbiology Society says, “The number of cases of food-borne illness remains high with an estimated 1 million people in the UK becoming infected each year. The symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fever, are not only unpleasant; they also cost an estimated £1.5 billion a year in lost working days and medical care. Most food-borne illness is preventable. Preventing food poisoning is the responsibility of everyone in the chain from the plough to the plate.”

The World Health Organisation says almost one in ten people fall ill because of contaminated food each year. 420,000 of us die as a result of it, 125,000 of whom are children. It’s terrible for humans, and it’s also catastrophic for food businesses.

Take the US Mexican food chain Chipotle, which saw quarterly profits plummet by 44% in 2015 thanks to a series of food poisoning scares. The company’s value went down by $11 billion and it didn’t recover its losses until 2019.

It could easily happen to your business. Maybe your foodservice supply company ends up making hundreds of people ill, decimating its reputation and profits. Perhaps your office-led business loses an unusual number of working days thanks to food-borne illnesses, crashing your targets and undermining your bottom line. Cross-contamination might lead to allergic reactions that send people to hospital, maybe even to the morgue. You might be sued, lose a big customer, or simply be unable to fulfil customer orders because of rampant staff illness.

There’s a simple, affordable solution to all this
Our UVC disinfection units are a reliable way to stop infections in their tracks. Fit UVC in the food production chain, from end to end, and you can dramatically reduce the risk of food-borne and other infections. Fit it in public areas where customers gather – a shop, a train, a restaurant, a theatre, a sports club, hotel or gym – and it’ll kill of a huge list of threats quickly and efficiently, leaving your business able to operate and its bank balance protected from legal action.

If you fit UVC disinfection and your competitors don’t? You win. When the next pandemic hits you’ll be ahead of the game, prepared to keep on making a profit, able to reassure consumers and employees that your premises is clean and safe.

How we’ll help businesses survive the next pandemic

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 12:07:25 GMT

‘The next pandemic’... it’s a phrase we hear frequently, and it strikes fear into the hearts of business owners and employees. When a business gets locked down, employees are locked out. Government support might - or might not - be forthcoming next time, but even so it’s a stressful time for personal and business finances as well as our health. Let’s take a look at the experts’ predictions around the next pandemic , sadly a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’.

Pandemics - No surprise
Covid took the world by surprise but experts had long predicted a pandemic of some sort, and there was plenty of information around about how to be prepared – none of which the UK took. A zoonotic disease was apparently the most likely, and that’s what happened.

A zoonotic disease is an infectious disease caused by a pathogen that jumps from humans to animals and vice versa, for example Ebola and salmonella. In fact 75% of new diseases are zoonotic, and they’re more of a threat than ever thanks to climate change, urbanisation, over-population, habitat loss, the export of goods, and international travel. All this helps send animal-borne diseases around the world. In effect we’ve created the perfect storm for ourselves.

The BBC website has taken a look at the top priority threats facing humanity at the moment. Here they are.

The Buruli ulcer reaches Australia
Originally found in Uganda, this flesh eating bacteria is being called a ‘neglected international disease’ by scientists. Now Buruli has reached Australia, and it’s being spread by possums. There are worries it might ultimately affect the entire Australian continent.

The Nipah virus in Asia
A WHO top ten disease, Nipah could easily create a pandemic. It’s highly dangerous, described as deadly, and breaks out regularly in Asia. Ongoing over-development and encroachment on bat habitats is worsening the risk.

Mers threatens Africa and the Middle East
Mers is a coronavirus and it’s a lot more dangerous than covid. Spread by camels, it’s success is being driven by climate change and over-population to such a degree that ‘scientists fear an outbreak could be imminent’.

The swine flu virus is already here
In 2009 an outbreak of swine flu almost went global. It was a close call. Experts say intensive factory farming still presents the risk of another swine flu outbreak.

Deadly mosquitoes arrive in the USA
There’s been a lot of excellent work done on making mosquitoes harmless, including releasing millions of DNA-altered sterile males. But they still kill almost a million people a year and infect 700 million or so, making almost 10% of the planet’s human population ill. Now the most dangerous mosquito species ever seen in the Western Hemisphere has arrived in the USA, probably from Asia, and it could easily spread Zika and other awful diseases across North America.

Yellow fever cases rocketing
There’s a yellow fever vaccine, but the disease still infects around 200,000 people a year and kills 30,000 of us. As humans continue to mess with Brazil’s rainforest, more outbreaks happen, and now there’s a real concern that it’s already jumping from humans to monkeys and back. While monkeys are being vaccinated, the risk remains very serious indeed.

Our tech kills a huge list of pathogens
Our UVC disinfection tech kills a massive list of pathogens, from bacterium to bacteria, viruses, moulds, spores, yeasts and more. There’s no real reason why it won’t also kill the threats we’ve mentioned. If you’d like to act before your competitors and prepare for the worst – bearing in mind it’s only a matter of time – please get in touch.

See our technologies in action on YouTube

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 14:30:00 GMT

Our YouTube channel is the place to go to find a load of videos of our tech in action. They clearly explain how everything works, and how our units do their magic.

Our UVC Sterilisers work instantly, invisibly, and effectively. Let’s take a look at the videos you can explore to see UVC disinfection in action .

Our UVC Mobile Steriliser is a powerful bacteria exterminator. It’s also a lot less risky than cleaning chemicals, something that matters a lot in some contexts. Our Leather Test Report, for example, reveals how – unlike other cleaning and disinfecting methods - our tech doesn’t damage the beautiful leathers and other interior materials used in luxury cars. Prestige car sales experts used to use fogging gases to clean car interiors until the colour on the leather started to run. There’s no risk of that with UVC.

How long do you need to shine the UVC light to disinfect an interior? Our unique UVC calculator does it for you. All you do is tap in the dimensions of the vehicle, choose the 200 Watt UVC lamp option, and it’ll show you how long it takes to kill more than 30 viruses and pathogens. The kill rate is checked using dosimeters, which cleverly change colour depending upon the dose of UVC they’ve had.

We have a video of a mobile UVC unit sterilising an ambulance quickly and efficiently, and another here . We also deploy the tech in other healthcare settings, because UVC is such an excellent way to keep patients and employees safe from this long list of different pathogens.

Our UVC vehicle sanitisation mobile units are a popular choice, with 600 and 200 Watt UVC mobiles and 200 Watt Vehicle sanitisers flying of the shelves. But basically, they can be used whenever you need a moveable way to disinfect anything from a fleet of buses to classrooms or offices.

Private schools like Willow Park in Dublin have always struggled to cope with winter outbreaks of norovirus. Once it hits junior schools the virus tends to find its way into senior schools, and into homes, something our mobile units help prevent. Click here to see a computer room clean in action , here to see a UVC office clean , here for a UVC call centre headset disinfection , and here to experience a 600W classroom clean for yourself.

We have a video revealing the magic of disinfection on demand, a Back Care Clinic that fitted anti-covid lamp technology. While covid has died back in 2023 there are still many nasty pathogens on the loose, and we have a videos explaining how our UVC lights helped in the fight against the pandemic.

Because experts say the next pandemic is a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’, it makes sense to future-proof your consumer-facing business in advance. In the meantime, you’ll benefit from fewer sick days and a healthier, safer workforce.

You can find out how our 600 watt UVC LED helped bring the music scene back to life , a low cost, low running cost equivalent to 90 6w UVC tubes. And we demonstrate how to kill viruses with our Ultra Violet lamps in general, clearly, in a simple way that’ll inspire you.

One of our videos reveals UVC showcased at the Hotel 360 Exhibition at Excell in London , and another at the Infection Control Conference in Birmingham. And if you fancy exploring a great little ‘ show and tell’ UVC sanitisation session, here it is.

If you have any questions about our technology, the videos, or how UVC sanitisation can help your business thrive, feel free to get in touch.

Food industry UVC hygiene and sanitisation news

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 10:06:04 GMT

Food-related illnesses can devastate a business as well as make its customers ill, potentially ending up with a court case for damages. Stop it happening with our full spectrum UV fixtures, proven to kill the common food hygiene threats E. coli and salmonella – plus a large number of other pathogens - without using chemicals.

Our clean, simple, efficient units disinfect surfaces, equipment and the air itself to kill off environmental pathogens in all sorts of food-led environments throughout the supply chain, at every touch point, from origin to sale. Here’s the latest food hygiene news, revealing how there’s a growing need across the world for clean, safe, low cost and cheap-to-run food hygiene technology like ours.

Recent food hygiene scandals
One restaurant in Sheffield was described as 'filthy', then handed a zero food hygiene rating after serving customers even though the premises was suffering from a ongoing infestation of rats. The owner has been taken to court.

Another, a take-away in Oldham, was so bad the inspectors found cockroaches running around the kitchen. And a collection of food products is being recalled by large supermarkets for several reasons, one being the risk of salmonella poisoning. Alerts have been issued by the Food Standards Agency for a variety of products sold at Asda, Lidl, and Sainsbury's.

At least 100 people who fell ill at a five-star hotel in Turkey are threatening legal action against the holiday company TUI. Fourteen families who have just got back from the Rixos Sungate hotel in Antalya tested positive for salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter, all very unpleasant and potentially extremely dangerous to vulnerable people. For people with low immunity, for example, any kind of food poisoning can be lethal thanks to the risk of severe diarrhoea and dehydration.

US food safety solution firm uses AI and ML to identify hygiene risks
Over in the USA, the food safety solutions business Novolyze is using high tech Predictive Insight and Machine Learning to improve food safety and compliance. A series of trend charts and heat maps work to help identify high risk areas, forecast outbreaks, and figure out where and when pathogens such as Listeria or Salmonella might occur during different food processing times and seasons.

Advanced predictive data modelling and analytics enhanced by AI and machine learning is at the heart of their Sanitation Complete and Environmental Monitoring Platform or EMP. It generates the maps and charts automatically using real time data plus historic data from multiple sources.

The idea is that this level of digitisation will let food and drinks manufacturers reduce paperwork and harness real-time insight to maintain good levels of food safety and quality. It’s especially important for riskier than average ready-to-eat foods, which come with more risk of contamination by food-borne pathogens.

Japanese team discovers the properties of food poisoning bacteria
The bacterium Providencia has been found in patients with gastroenteritis. It’s a lot like enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Salmonella, both the causes of severe food poisoning. Clarifying the source of infection and its associated pathogenic factors brings potential new preventive methods closer. The team at the Graduate School of Veterinary Science, from Osaka Metropolitan University, says the discovery will identify infection routes and help find ways to prevent food poisoning.

Summer tips for keeping food safely cool
Because we’re into innovative cooling technology as well as UVC disinfection, we’re interested to see a host of online tips to keep food safe this summer. It matters because leaving fresh foods out at temperatures of more than 40F for more than four hours you enter the danger zone, where bacteria multiply fast to increase the risk of food-borne illnesses.
If it’s closer to 80 degrees outdoors, like it has been recently, your food safety window is even smaller. You have around an hour before bacteria begin spoiling the food. The same pathogens that make food spoil are often those that make us ill, basically the toxins arising from runaway bacterial growth. This means it’s always best to avoid eating food that looks and smells wrong, or has simply become too warm. The wise thing to do, if in doubt, is to throw it out.

Protect the food chain from origin to retail
We have a range of highly effective units designed to keep the food chain safe and clean, killing a huge list of pathogens off safety and quickly. If you’re in the food sector, including foodservice and manufacture, and you’d like to ensure the food you pick, pack and produce is safe for consumers, our tech delivers the perfect solution. It’s low cost to buy, costs very little to run, is super-easy to use, and it’s remarkably powerful.

Infectious Disease News

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 14:34:49 GMT

You need UVC sanitation!

It’s a bit like the old children’s game, Whac-a-Mole. We did a pretty good job of handling covid but now other, even scarier infectious diseases are on the rampage, which means it’s more important than ever to focus on hygiene.

In a week when experts have issued a dire warning about TB, which has just overtaken covid as humanity’s deadliest infectious disease, measles makes an unwelcome return. And syphilis is once more a threat. No wonder our UVC sanitation units are in more demand than ever. Here’s the news.

TB runs riot to spike grave global health concerns
The horror of Tuberculosis is back, one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, and the biggest-ever clinical trial for TB has been set up to address what’s being seen as a ‘hidden pandemic’ in Africa.

The UK’s Professor Robert Wilkinson has set up a global initiative involving experts across the USA, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Madagascar, and the Ivory Coast. The task is to create a one-shot vaccine against TB, whose current treatment takes at least six months. If a sufferer stops taking the drugs within the crucial 6 months, the disease can come back in an extremely virulent drug-resistant form.

2005 saw the NHS stopping the BCG vaccine for all children in the UK, replacing it with a jab for children who are most likely to travel to badly affected areas. But the vaccine stops working once a child becomes a teen, leaving them vulnerable. The USA has done a similar thing but unlike the UK, they’re making good progress towards completely eradicating the disease thanks to massive investment and strong contact tracing during outbreaks. It’s not really surprising that, under these circumstances, TB cases from other countries are on the rise in England.

Worst of all, the mutant form of TB we’re seeing on our shores comes with a very high fatality rate, with just short of a third of people dying from it.

Measles sneaks back thanks to covid set-backs
It’s just as worrying to see measles, which has long been the world’s most contagious disease, coming back. Cases plummeted during the worst of covid thanks to social distancing and mask wearing, but the trend is seeing a sharp reversal. Cases are also on the rise globally, a frightening trend since measles can - and does - kill.

Dr Patrick O’Connor is an expert in measles at the World Health Organisation. He defines a disruptive measles outbreak as one with over 20 cases per million people. As each month passes, we’re seeing more nations falling into the category.

Before 1963, when a vaccine was developed, measles infected millions of children worldwide and killed around 2.6 million people every year, mostly the under fives. As more of us were vaccinated, the infection started to disappear. At one point it had completely disappeared from the UK. Now covid has undermined these changes.

The pandemic meant many nations stopped their measles vaccination programmes, wiping out decades of progress. Whereas before covid 86% of children ages less than one had been vaccinated against measles. By 2021 it had fallen top 81%, the lowest since 2008. Covid saw more than 67 million children missing their measles jab over two years and 112 nations saw their vaccination coverage drop.

Now we’re starting to see the consequences, with big outbreaks of measles in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Maldives.

Syphilis and other STDs on the rise
Experts say we need to keep an eye open for the symptoms of syphilis which, along with other STIs, is on the up across the UK. Apparently diagnosed cases of infectious syphilis are the highest since 1945, with 392,453 diagnoses of new STIs in England during 2022 alone, up 23.8% since 2021. This ‘strongly suggests’ STIs are on the march again.
Those most at risk of STIs in general are people aged 15 to 24, those most likely to have casual sex with more than one partner. While most STIs are easy to treat with antibiotics, they can cause serious health issues if left untreated.

Kill a huge list of infectious diseases with our UVC sanitisation units

Our powerful UCV sanitising units kill a host of horrible infectious diseases to give you a reliable way to protect your employees, visitors, suppliers and customers. To give your organisation a boost and stay ahead of competitors who aren’t so wise, contact the team for expert insight. You’ll be surprised how affordable it is to keep people safe from infection.

The latest news on food hygiene

Wed, 31 May 2023 11:40:10 GMT

As experts in the innovative world of UVC sanitisation, we’re pleased to see the trend for commercial UVC disinfection growing fast. One of the most popular uses for the technology is in the food sector, covering the supply chain from end to end to keep consumers safe from food-borne diseases, infections and illnesses. Here’s the news.

‘Grim’ hotel food hygiene in 6 Liverpool city centre hotels
Earlier this month the Eurovision Song Contest packed Liverpool’s hotels to the rafters with revellers. Since then there has been a run of food hygiene ratings so bad they were described by the Liverpool Echo as ‘grim’.

One hotel of the six handed a shocking zero out of five food hygiene rating was told in no uncertain terms to fix problems with food handling, preparation, cooking, reheating, cooling and storage, revealing how the entire chain was sub-standard therefore dangerous to consumers.

The moral of the story? If you run a hotel, it’s your job to keep food hygiene standards constantly high to keep the business going, attract consumers, and build a great reputation.

Is it time for England’s outlets to display their food hygiene ratings?
In Wales and Northern Ireland it is a legal requirement for businesses to show their food hygiene ratings in the window so passers-by can clearly see what’s what. In England it isn’t a legal requirement. Should it be?

With food hygiene being so important, we think so. And the government seems to agree. As the food.gov.uk website says, “We know that 97% of businesses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have a rating of three or above and we know outbreaks of foodborne illness are less likely to occur at these premises than those which have a lower rating.”

Watford Borough Council slammed for keeping a food poisoning source secret
They’ve been called reckless, irresponsible, and stubborn. So what did Watford Borough Council do to deserve it? Following widespread reports about customers falling ill after eating at a local restaurant and takeaway, an investigation discovered 23 confirmed cases of Salmonella and 17 ‘probable’ cases linked to the premises.

The council decided not to name the outlet, instead keeping it quiet and infuriating local people. But the local newspaper revealed the restaurant’s name in the interest of keeping consumers safe while the restaurant gets its act together.

How a hot summer increases the risk of food poisoning
There’s less risk of picking up a food-borne infection in cold weather, whether it’s from bacteria, a virus, fungus or parasite. Summertime brings ideal conditions for food borne pathogens to grow and flourish. Take bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria, all of which love warm environments and like to contaminate food that isn’t stored or cooked properly. At this time of year, more than any other, the best possible hygiene standards matter.

India suffers a run of terrible food poisoning events
Talking about hot weather... India is suffering a dramatic run of food poisoning events at the moment, thanks to a combination of the country’s climate and sub-standard food hygiene. In one incident 22 people were hospitalised. In another more than 100 wedding guests were floored by food poisoning, and a third saw 65 people, including pregnant women, taken ill. One particularly bad incident affected more than 150 people, 73 of whom were hospitalised.

The food hygiene market is booming
According to Marketwatch , a global hike in food-borne illnesses and poisoning by contaminated food products, along with better consumer awareness around food safety, mean the global food safety testing market is set to boom, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of more than 7.5% by 2025.

They also say that a severe lack of food control infrastructure in developing economies like India, along with the ‘complexity in testing techniques’ and a lack of government regulation, means market growth will be affected, despite increasing worldwide consumer demand for fresh and ‘appropriate’ food products.

Rely on clean, fast, effective UVC food sanitisation
UVC light at a special wavelength is proven to kill food-borne pathogens quickly and efficiently. Wherever the light touches, pathogens die. Our units make it easier to achieve the high hygiene standards demanded of the UK’s food sector, and because the light’s generated by LED bulbs they’re extremely energy-efficient and eco-friendly. If you’d like to keep your customers safe all year long, beat the competition and keep your reputation as a top player in the food industry, let’s talk.

Q&A – How proven, powerful UV-C disinfection kills pathogens

Mon, 22 May 2023 12:37:30 GMT

Our popular UVC LED disinfection units harness clean, powerful UVC light at a special wavelength to kill dangerous pathogens in minutes. Here are some key UVC disinfection Q&As to help you understand exactly why it’s such an efficient, cost effective way to keep workers and consumers safe from infections.

If you’d like to talk things through with one of our experts, please feel free to get in touch. You’ll find it illuminating, pun intended!

Q: Which pathogens are killed by our special UVC units?
A: Our lights kill a huge number of nasty health threats quickly and efficiently by destroying their RNA and DNA. Take a look at the list here.

Q: What settings are our UVC disinfection units designed for?
A: Whatever your circumstances, there’s a UVC disinfection unit that’s perfect for the job. Some are portable, others are fixed. Some disinfect while people are out of the space, others can be left on all the time for continuous disinfection.

Click here to explore the many and varied commercial settings our technology is being used in: everything from schools and colleges to theatres, cinemas, offices, cruise ships and, of course, healthcare settings.

Q: How long have we known about the disinfection properties of UVC light?
A: Back in 1878, almost 150 years ago, a scientific paper was published revealing the ‘sterilisation’ of bacteria exposed to short wavelength light between 100 – 280nm. The tech has been widely used to sterilise healthcare settings since the 1930s.

Q: What wavelength do our machines operate at?
A: Our UVC units use UV light at 265 nm because it has been proved to be the most lethal to pathogens.

Q: How long does it take to disinfect a room?
A: While different pathogens are killed at different timescales, the wavelength we use kills them all. You’re looking at a few minutes, whatever the setting.

Q: What will your UVC disinfection units do for us?
A: It depends on your setting. Our machines can disinfect shelves and counters in shops to leave them disease-free and safe. High traffic areas are disinfected in minutes. If you’re in transport our units will disinfect carriages, seats, armrests and handrails. Pathogens are eliminated from food preparation and production, from start to finish. If you run an hotel, gym, nightclub or business centre, it’s the perfect solution. Whatever your organisation does, our experts will recommend the right type of unit.

Q: How do we know the machine is on and working?
A: We build visible light into our units so they glow purple when on. It’s just one of several key safety features that mean there’s no risk to people or animals.

Q: What about pathogens that become resistant to antibiotics and other drugs?
A: It makes no difference. UVC light still kills them. Our UVC calculator gives you a simple, efficient way to find out the kill rate for the units we make.

Q: Where to find the technical details about our UV-C units
A: Go to this page and download the brochure, packed with technical and other details so you know exactly how our UVC disinfection units work.

Q: Can I see the units in action?
A: Yes, go to the ‘ video’ page on our site to see a selection of videos showing our tech in action.

Food hygiene news – A catalogue of disasters

Wed, 17 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Food poisoning can be very serious indeed. In Nigeria in early May, suspected food poisoning saw 22 people hospitalised. Two girls died and their parents and sister fell ill with food poisoning in Rajasthan, India, and as many as forty people were floored by it in Assam, also in India. But it isn’t just something that happens abroad.

Cases of food poisoning are rocketing in the UK and also in the USA despite better overall health and safety. One British woman died after eating contaminated cheese and picking up listeriosis, a rare brain infection caused by the listeria bacteria. While listeria is found on many foods, the biggest risk comes from chilled ready-to-eat food.

That’s why we’ve seen a run of foods removed from supermarket shelves recently. The public was told to avoid three goats cheese products sold by Tesco, Waitrose and the Co-op, just in case they contain listeria. And Muller, which owns Cadbury, has also recalled a number of items because of the potential presence of listeria.

Because the symptoms of listeriosis are often a lot like flu, with a fever, aching muscles, chills, sickness and diarrhoea, it isn’t always easy to spot. It’s an even bigger risk when you’re more vulnerable to infection than average, pregnant, over 65 or less than a month old.

One man says he suffered food poisoning after being given ‘cold and raw scampi’ at a Wetherspoons pub, mistakenly mixed in with his order of chicken wings. And in April 25 British tourists staying at a TUI resort fell ill with food poisoning, at least one of whom was apparently hospitalised.

Even something as seemingly innocuous as leftover rice can cause havoc with nasty gastrointestinal issues. Because bacterial spores are resistant to heat, they survive after rice is cooked and reheated. Leaving cooked rice out for too long at room temperature can leave you with a bad bout of food poisoning thanks to the Bacillus cereus bacteria that quickly develops.

This is why food hygiene matters. As a consumer you need to check the food hygiene star ratings given to a restaurant cafe, hotel, gastro-pub or coffee shop beforehand. As a food producer or retailer you need to ensure your business meets all the right hygiene standards. And that’s where we come in, with highly effective, efficient and affordable food disinfection units run on UVC light.

UVC light is pure, powerful, and kills bacteria, viruses and a host more pathogens in seconds, rendering them harmless. If that sounds like a good move, we’d love to talk things through with you. Contact us today on 01379 658 721 or via the contact for m here.

How to disinfect theatres and cinemas fast and effectively

Fri, 12 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

“If you have 300 people in the cinema, the average chance is you’ll have three to four people infected in that cinema.” Stephen Griffin, Virologist, Leeds University.

The quote above is about covid. But, depending on the pathogen, it could apply to all sorts of infectious illnesses and diseases including everyday influenza, the common cold, and the winter sickness we get from norovirus. In fact everywhere we gather indoors comes with an infection risk, including cinema and theatre auditoriums.

The risk of diseases spreading in cinemas and theatres
It’s easy to catch something in a venue simply because of close-up risks like coughs, sneezes, talking, shouting, cheering, singing and laughing in a confined, poorly-ventilated space. The tiny virus-carrying aerosols that quickly accumulate indoors when there isn’t enough ventilation can travel a long way during a performance that lasts anything from an hour and a half for a movie, potentially three hours or more for a West End show. The latest Bond movie, for example, ran for two hours and forty three minutes.

Theatres and cinemas aren’t the only venues where crowds gather and diseases can spread. Think about gigs and concerts, anything from chart-topping super-groups playing at huge venues to smaller-scale gigs featuring local bands in town halls, village halls and pubs. And how about indoor sporting events, where the roar of the crowd can spread pathogens far and wide?

The best solution of all is to fit the right level and quality of ventilation, along with a reliable way to kill pathogens so they can’t cause illnesses and diseases. And that’s where we come in.

Easy-fit, low cost evaporative cooling for cinemas and theatres
Under our Cool-Tech Ltd banner we provide cutting edge evaporative cooling technology and more. Evaporative Cooling works by drawing a constant flow of fresh air over water-saturated pads to bring cool, fresh air into the building while removing warm stale air. There are no chemicals involved. The carbon footprint is tiny, as is your power bill, because the tech uses 90% less energy than ordinary air conditioning.

Powerful, safe, low cost UV disinfection units for theatres and cinemas
Our sister business focuses on brilliant UVC Sanitising Solutions which quickly break down the DNA and RNA inside bacteria, viruses, spores and more to make them harmless. UV radiation is already in wide use for treating water and air without any chemicals, very popular in food production and manufacture as well as healthcare settings.

UVC light is highly effective against all sorts of horrible pathogens including cholera, hepatitis, polio, typhoid, giardia, cryptosporidium, covid, flu, the common cold, and numerous other bacteria, viruses and parasites. It also happens to remove chemicals like chlorine, chloramines, ozone and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) contaminants. And it dramatically reduces cleaning times, also saving money on human cleaning staff. Constant disinfection is entirely possible, giving you a handy competitive edge.

Keeping customers and staff safe
Both of these fire-and-forget solutions are easy to look after, simple to use, low cost and highly effective.

In a world where plenty of us will always be wary in a crowd thanks to the lessons learned during the pandemic, evaporative cooling tech plus UVC disinfection provides beautifully clean, safe spaces for people to meet, laugh, and enjoy themselves knowing they won’t be at risk of becoming ill.

If you run a cinema or theatre and would like to explore the potential with an expert, get in touch . You’ll find it inspiring.

UVC disinfection – Helping offices and factories stay productive

Thu, 11 May 2023 05:00:00 GMT

Scenario one: your business suffers because people are continually off work with the common cold, flu, and norovirus. Scenario two: you’ve fitted UVC disinfection units at work and the number of sick days has plummeted. Which would you prefer? Probably the second scenario! Here’s what you need to know.

UK worker sickness stats for 2022
First, let’s look at the numbers. According to the Office of National Statistics, 2022 saw the nation’s sickness absence rate rise to 2.6%, up 0.4% on 2021 and the highest it has been since 2004’s 2.7%. In total an eye-watering estimated 185.6 million working days were lost thanks to illness and injuries, another record-breaker. The number of days lost per worker was 5.7 and the most common reason was ‘minor illnesses’ at just over 29% of the total: colds, coughs, nausea, and diarrhoea.

While every age group in 2022 saw a rise in sick leave, women, older people, those with long-term health issues, part-time workers and those in the care, leisure, and other service jobs suffered the most. Ben Keighley from the social media recruitment specialist Socially Recruited said the numbers reveal the UK is the ‘sick man of Europe’, leaving the government facing an uphill battle to deal with the national productivity crisis we’re facing.

As everyone who operates a business knows, when employees are healthy, production levels improve. So if you can help keep your workers healthy, you’ll enjoy an advantage over your competitors. Imagine a world where a single cycle of surprisingly simple technology dramatically reduces viruses and pathogens on all surfaces, and in the air. You avoid problems with staff healthcare, sick pay, days off, lost production, and reduced profits.

This is our world, and more businesses are joining us every day.

Why is our tech better than crews of human cleaners?
Imagine how long it would take for a team of cleaners to go through your office or factory with cleaning products, sprays and cloths, getting rid of pathogens on every surface? There’s more. It isn’t a one-off. They have to keep the place clean constantly throughout the working day.

‘Impossible’ isn’t a bad way to describe the challenge when you’re faced with multiple surfaces, infected air, and cleaning products that get rid of stains and dirt but don’t necessarily disinfect as well. You’ll need a lot of cleaners, a lot of cleaning products, powerful disinfectants and a lot of time – and that means a lot of money.

Fit our units instead and they’ll sit quietly in the background doing an exceptional job of killing a massive list of pathogens. Some of our units fit neatly into existing lighting, others are portable, but they all deliver outstanding results to keep people and place safe from infections. So while your competitors are struggling to cope thanks to the latest in a string of colds, flu and tummy bugs, your employees are still at work, happy that they’re being looked after so well.

A clean, safe working environment means you’ll also be able to attract - and keep - the best employees. And it gives you a unique benefit to talk about in your marketing materials. If that sounds good, let’s talk.

PS. You might also like to explore our evaporative cooling technologies, the perfect way to keep people cool and comfortable in an ever-warming climate.

Latest news on outbreaks of preventable disease

Tue, 09 May 2023 11:50:47 GMT

Our UVC technology doesn’t just stop pathogens in their tracks. By doing so it helps prevent dangerous outbreaks of disease that end up making large numbers of people ill, affecting businesses and communities and threatening the vulnerable. Here’s a look at recent outbreaks of preventable disease.

Avian flu – The worst outbreak in decades
The latest outbreak of avian flu doesn’t affect humans but it’s a particularly infectious variant of H5N1 and has caused Europe’s worst ever bird flu outbreak in decades. It could even lead to the extinction of some species of seabirds, whose breeding colonies have been hit hard since the current outbreak kicked off in 2021.

As the government website says: “There are no detected severe human cases associated with influenza A H5N1 in the UK, but severe human cases have been reported internationally. There is insufficient information to judge the risk of asymptomatic or mild disease due to limited testing in human contacts of infected birds.”

In April this year there was an outbreak of human infection caused by avian flu A (H5N1) in Chile, so it can happen. There was also an outbreak of Avian Flu A (H3N8) in China. The disease has already been found in seals and otters. We’re fortunate that, so far, bird flu hasn’t found a reliable and fast way to species-hop between birds and humans and can’t turn into an epidemic or pandemic. We hope it never does.

The WHO’s latest official outbreaks
We’ve taken a look at the WHO website to see what’s been circulating in the past couple of months. April and May saw the Marburg virus let loose in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania, acute hepatitis in South Sudan, Measles in Ethiopia and Indonesia, and Lassa Fever and Diphtheria in Nigeria, along with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in Burundi and Indonesia.

Covid is no longer a threat according to the WHO
Here’s some big news from 5th May. It’s good to know that the WHO Director General says covid is “now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern”. On the other hand experts say we need to remain vigilant because of the spread of the highly contagious new Arcturus variant, currently mostly affecting India.

The common cold runs rampant in the UK
UK scientists have warned of a 'severe risk' of catching a cold at the moment. Nine million Brits are already suffering from the common cold virus, which is spreading fast like it usually does.

Britain’s gastric flu outbreak
The nation is also in the middle of a big gastric flu outbreak affecting people from Scotland down to the south coast.

Measles cases are on the rise
Cases of measles are on the rise in England. Public health experts are asking children, teens and adults to take up free vaccinations against measles, which can kill. If you’re old enough to have had measles as a child you’ll know how awful it can be, and how poorly it can make you. And it isn’t just the UK at risk. Experts are seeing a rise in measles in many countries, partly because vaccinations were interrupted by covid and partly because of people being ‘vaccine hesitant’.

If it’s a pathogen, our tech kills it
If it’s a pathogen, our Ultra Violet light tech will kill it... fast. There’s no escape for viruses, bacteria, spores, moulds and more, however serious the diseases they cause. It even makes short work of Ebola, one of the most frightening viral threats of recent years.

If you’d like to keep your business, employees and customers safe from infections, it’s quick and easy to fit our units and they cost next to nothing to run, being LED-powered. Let’s talk.

Trusted UVC disinfection for foodservice and hospitality

Tue, 09 May 2023 11:47:11 GMT

The food sector uses our reliable UVC units to disinfect the places where food is harvested, made and packaged. But how about foodservice, restaurants, hotels, cafes, coffee shops, and the hospitality industry as a whole?

Food hygiene is critical, as revealed by the government’s dedicated web pages. 1st May 2023, for example, saw Cadbury recalling branded dessert products because of a potential Listeria risk. On 28th April 2023 a cheese company had to recall various goat cheeses for the same reason.

Antimicrobial resistance or AMR is another serious risk for the food sector. Resistant bacteria can be spread to humans via the food chain. It can happen thanks to careless animal slaughtering, and resistant bacteria in animal poo used to fertilise land. The same goes for vegetables, fruit and shellfish contaminated by water containing AMR bacteria. Cross-contamination through poor food-handling is always a risk.

Cleaning well, cooking thoroughly, chilling correctly and avoiding cross-contamination are all essential whether your business is involved in processing and manufacturing food, or preparing, cooking and serving it to customers. But good hygiene can be a complicated task when you need to keep everything safely disinfected at all times.

Proven UVC disinfection for foodservice and hospitality
So what can you do to make your life easier, your food products safer, and the places food is served clean for customers? And how about keeping your employees safe as well?

Our new duct probe, the CT-X4 , can be used above conveyor belts and other places in the food production chain, as well as in food sanitisation cabinets where products must be 100% germ free.

Our CT-X3 Upper Air Germicidal Units are another popular way to keep food and people safe from pathogens, offering excellent Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation. It’s ideal when there are people present and you want continuous disinfection. It’s a simple job to install them above people’s heads, where they prevent cross contamination by reducing the air’s viral load.

Our CT-X3 units also disinfect the upper air but they also shut off when they detect movement. This makes them ideal for changing rooms and toilets. When the area is vacant the light switches on to disinfect the space. When motion is detected it automatically turns off.

Our CT-X1 unit offers continuous disinfection when people are present, idea for cafes, restaurants and hospitality settings. The units are easy to install above people’s heads to stop the cross contamination of viruses and germs, again dramatically cutting back the viral load in the air.

If you prefer a mobile solution to disinfection, our popular Mobile UVC LED Steriliser Units provide exceptional Direct Fixed Surface Sterilisation that you can wheel around to any location you like. Choose from 200W or 600W of UVC power for fast deployment and intense disinfection. They’re the only sustainable, chemical free disinfection solution available and they do a superb job.

The result of all this? You enjoy a thriving business where your employees feel safe and cared for, with fewer sick days to fork out for because infectious pathogens are killed off before they can spread. Your customers appreciate the fact that you take the time to disinfect the premises, something you can promote in your marketing materials to attract more people and give you a competitive edge.

If you’d like some help choosing the best solution for your foodservice or hospitality business, we’re always happy to help.

How to disinfect higher education settings - and why it’s essential

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 08:00:03 GMT

Vaccine-preventable infections break out at colleges and universities because young people spend so much time together, share living and learning spaces, and have such wide groups of friends. Here we take a look at the common diseases in these settings, what universities already do to mitigate the risks, and how your uni can do even better at keeping staff and students safe.

What diseases turn up in universities?
Norovirus, measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, TB, seasonal flu, infectious mononucleosis, also known as glandular fever or kissing disease, are all possible in a higher education setting. TB and meningitis in particular can be very dangerous, and the others can make vulnerable people poorly.

The disinfection challenges of a higher education setting
The challenges involved in keeping higher and further education settings safe and clean go further than the human factor. It’s also about the spaces people gather in. Lecture halls and language labs, art studios, video units, computer rooms and science labs are more than just high traffic, they’re also high touch and some contain expensive equipment. It’s notoriously hard, complex and costly to keep these areas disinfected the regular way with human cleaners and chemical cleaning products.

Advice for university students and employees
Universities and colleges are already well clued up with advice for staff and students. People are advised to keep their jabs up to date, follow basic hygiene, be aware of the risks of disease and who needs extra protection, and keep shared facilities clean.

It’s the college’s job to encourage students to have vaccinations, register with a doctor, and advise ill students stay away from lessons and social events. All this is usually handled by a special Student Wellbeing team, whose members keep everyone informed and, if it’s needed, can collect essential information about who’s been in contact with whom.

The role UVC plays in university and college disinfection
UVC technology already plays a major role in keeping healthcare settings safe from viruses and other pathogens. And our fixed and portable UVC LED units give educators a proven long term solution to help keep students and staff safe from an enormous list of health threats. We’ve even built unique Bacterial Simulation Software to visualise the germicidal irradiation effect our UVC LED lights will have on a given space using a combination of time, intensity and distance. This, and the simple design and fitting, makes our units easy to use.

The units operate at a 50mj/cm sq disinfection level that kills the most pathogens remarkably quickly. It also means you seriously reduce the risks behind using harmful chemical sprays, which can themselves cause respiratory issues.

Last but not least our units come with multiple safety features including motion sensors, sound sensors, timers, light displays, time clocks, and visible purple UVA, so it’s easy to keep people safe.

Explore what UVC disinfection can do for your educational establishment
You’ll find more details here, along with a couple of example case studies. If you’d like to explore the potential of our units for saving you time and money, and keeping everyone safe from infections, let’s talk.

Are you ready for Covid Arcturus?

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 10:16:29 GMT

The latest covid strain, arcturus, is hitting the headlines, first spotted in January. It’s already here in the UK. In India infections are soaring, with thousands of new cases a day. The WHO is keeping its eye on the spread and the Indian authorities – along with those in some other countries - are bringing back face masks in public spaces. So should we worry?

This is another Omicron sub-variant, and so far it hasn’t been linked to any fatalities, but it has been found in 22 countries including the USA and Australia, and it could as much as 1.2 times more infectious than last sub-variant. This is what you need to know.

About the covid arcturus variant
The scientific name for the new variant is XBB.1.16, a blend of two previous Omicron variants and closely related to XBB1.5. It’s currently driving a wave in many other countries like India, where it is already endemic.

The symptoms are similar to other variants and it can cause severe lung infections in vulnerable people along with the usual risk of Long Covid. But arcturus comes with a new symptom, conjunctivitis, also called pinkeye, which mostly affects children.

What the experts say about arcturus
So far officials say it’s only a ‘slight’ concern, which is good news. On the other hand experts are worried that the UK doesn’t have a strong enough plan in place to safeguard everyone throughout the year as the pandemic quietly rumbles on in the background.

The good news is that the immunity built up from vaccinations and infections will help protect people against every new variant, no matter how infectious it is, but the vulnerable may need another booster jab. As Dr Connor Bamford from the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen's University Belfast said, “We need more investment in surveillance of the virus, next-generation vaccines, and better treatments for the vulnerable in the community and in hospital.”

How to protect your staff and customers from arcturus
It doesn’t matter how tough and resilient covid becomes. Our UVC units will damage the DNA and RNA inside it so badly that it can’t reproduce, so can’t spread and can’t infect people. If you’d like to prepare your company for arcturus and all the other potential variants, along with this massive list of other pathogens , give us a call.

UV light – Powerful disinfection for foodservice businesses

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 09:00:03 GMT

According to the WHO , more than 200 diseases come from eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites and more. It’s a growing public health problem that puts a strain on healthcare systems, drives lost productivity, and harms tourism and trade as well as making people ill and sometimes even killing them.

How do food-borne diseases happen?
Food-borne diseases are caused by contaminated food at every point along the food production, delivery and consumption chain, mostly arising through unsafe food storage and food processing. These illnesses can transmit everything from diarrhoea to some cancers.
Most of the time they’re gastrointestinal but they can be neurological, gynaecological and immunological. And those who suffer the most from food-borne diarrhoea, wherever you are in the world, are the under fives.

How many people get ill and die through unsafe food?
Unsafe food causes 600 million cases of disease and 420,000 deaths a year. 30% of deaths are children under 5. The WHO says 33 million years of healthy life are lost to unsafe food every year, but they also say the real number is probably a lot bigger.

Food-borne diseases are preventable. Strong and resilient national food safety systems are achievable. But because food safety gets so little political attention, especially in developing countries, it’s an ongoing challenge. As a result contaminated food by microbial agents is a worldwide public health worry. When you realise that many countries have documented significant increases in diseases caused by microorganisms in food over the last few decades, you understand what a big – and growing – issue food safety is.

Common microbial hazards in food include bacteria like Salmonella, viruses like Norovirus, and parasites like trematodes. The diarrhoeal diseases they cause are the most common food-borne illnesses of all, resulting from eating contaminated food, causing millions of us to fall ill and hundreds of thousands of us to die every year. There’s more. Because these diseases can cause malnutrition and stunt people’s growth, entire lives are affected.

World Food Safety Day – 7th June 2023
The WHO’s World Food Safety Day on 7th June 2023 aims to spread the news about how to prevent and control food-borne diseases. Take a look at this video about the event – then contact us to make your foodservice business as safe, clean and disease-free as possible thanks to powerful, reliable, highly effective UVC light.

Brilliant UV disinfection for public transport

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 12:01:33 GMT

Wherever people gather in crowds, in close proximity, there’s a risk of diseases spreading. It could be the common cold or covid, or it might be something a lot more serious.

An epidemic is defined as the fast spread of disease to a large number of people within a short time. In meningococcal infections, for example, an ‘attack rate’ of more than 15 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks in a row qualifies as an epidemic.

Simply being in a crowd is linked with an increased risk of pathogen infection. Because most pathogens are invisible and the symptoms they cause can be either delayed or impossible to spot, it’s hard for us to identify people who are carrying pathogens. No wonder so many people feel uneasy in a crowd. Some scientists say it’s a natural reaction we’ve evolved to stay safe from illness.

New epidemics are occurring across the world
We’ve had several epidemics since covid hit. In 2020 the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered an Ebola outbreak. Also in 2020 there was a serious dengue outbreak in Singapore and a Nigeria yellow fever epidemic. 2021 saw a black fungus epidemic in India and there was a global epidemic of hepatitis of unknown origin in children during 2021-22. Then there was the 2022–2023 monkeypox outbreak, still going on, and the 2022 Uganda Ebola outbreak, also still active.

Why public transport settings are particularly risky
Thanks to the increased potential for human contact, dense social environments like airports, bus stations and rail stations come with a higher likelihood of disease transmission. The same goes for planes, trains and buses themselves, all places where people are crowded together, potentially for long periods of time.

Public transport settings are all about ongoing travel. You go to the airport to fly thousands of miles on holiday, to the train station for a trip to the capital, or to the bus stop to commute to work. This means the risk isn’t only about being in a crowd at the location itself, it’s about spreading any disease you catch far and wide in a very short space of time. And that’s a risk worth tackling for everyone’s sake, including the employees of public transport businesses. If half of your drivers go off sick, or all your support staff, it’s a real challenge to keep the service going.

How to keep public transport staff, customers and everyone else safe from disease
Against a landscape like this, you want to keep everyone as safe as it’s possible to be. But even large teams of human cleaners equipped with chemical cleaning products will struggle to keep stations, airports, buses, trains and aircraft constantly, safely disinfected.

You want a solution that works hard in the background to keep the air and surfaces clean and safe without harming people. You want it to be simple, cost effective to buy, easy to fit and cheap to run. You’d like it to be environmentally responsible. And it has to be scientifically proven beyond doubt.

So can anything tick all those essential boxes? Yes, it can and it does. Our UVC units run on safe, low energy LED bulbs. They fix into existing light fittings easily. Some are portable. Whichever you buy they run cheaply, using very little energy. And the technology has already been used for more than 50 years in healthcare settings around the world to destroy the DNA inside – therefore kill - an enormous list of nasty disease-causing pathogens.

As this study suggests, there’s a real link between public transport use and the transmission of infectious diseases. The study’s authors recommend that the results are used to ‘inform the development of non-pharmacological interventions that can act on preventing instead of curing infections and are, potentially, more cost-effective’. And there we rest our case.

It isn’t the only study looking into pathogens and public transport. There are several more, and they all say much the same thing. Simply search Google for ‘diseases spread by public transport’ to read them.

If you’d like to give your public transport business a head start in keeping diseases at bay, our technology is the perfect solution. Contact us to find out more.

Keep gym and spots club members safe from pathogens

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 09:00:02 GMT

Picture this. Your gym is packed with people working out, pumping iron, running and rowing on machines. It’s tough physical work, which means they’re breathing hard and fast, and freely sweating. Then there’s contact sport, which puts players at more risk than non-contact sports simply because people are in such close proximity.

When someone’s breathing out particles of a virus or another pathogen nearby, or even right in your face, it’s easy to see how it can spread like wildfire in a situation like this. If a member turns up with a cold or is about to develop flu or covid, there’s also a chance it’ll spread fast. All this means gyms and sports clubs can be risky places.

How to keep your sports club or gym clean and safe
You want your sports club to be a healthy destination. You want to protect your members. You don’t want to be closing regularly for deep-cleaning because a disease has found its way in. You need to stay open seven days a week whatever happens, giving your members the safe, clean space they deserve.

Common pathogens found in gyms and changing rooms
In settings where it’s all too easy for pathogens like MRSA, covid, Norovirus and the rest to have a field day, it’s good to know our technology kills off a long list of pathogens fast and efficiently, leaving your premises free of disease, safe for everyone to enjoy.

UVC light at a special wavelength takes care of Staphylococcus infections and MRSA, both of which can live on gym machines, free weights, mats, towels, benches, and in the changing rooms. Fungal infections and wart-causing human papillomavirus are also common in sports clubs and gyms, as are fungal infections and airborne respiratory viruses. Our machines kill a very long list of them.

The awesome power of UVC
Our lights and portable units do an excellent job of harnessing and improving a technology that’s already been used in healthcare and other settings for more than fifty years. It doesn’t matter how big your place is. Large areas like gyms and training facilities don’t pose a problem for our machines. You get fast, reliable, powerful disinfection, giving the members and players who use your facilities good, high hygiene levels.

Choose fixed or portable units depending on your circumstances
Fit our fixed technology in your existing light fittings with ease, or use an efficient portable unit to wheel around the various areas including the changing rooms. The units you choose depends on the circumstances. We’re always happy to discuss the potential with gym owners, sports club owners, and anyone else who runs a membership club where people are in close proximity.

How antibiotic resistance is not a problem for UVC disinfection

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 10:32:33 GMT

A new study reveals a certain type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria might have got worse thanks to covid. Luckily our UVC disinfection units kill off bacteria and viruses and more - no matter how resistant to antibiotics they’ve become. Here’s the story, courtesy of New Scientist magazine.

How antibiotic resistance shot up thanks to covid
Streptococcus pneumoniae lives in our throats naturally and doesn’t bother most people. In some it can cause pneumonia along with nasty life-threatening blood infections called septicaemia, especially in the vulnerable, very young, and old.

Computer-modelled research suggests that while Europe’s lockdowns drove a drop in cases of people suffering a pneumonia-causing bacterium from 2019 to 2020, at the same time the proportion of antibiotic resistant cases shot up.

It looks like lockdowns, changes to antibiotic prescriptions from 2019 to 2020, and covid itself all worked to impact the spread of S. Pneumonia outside of hospitals, and also helped it become more resistant to antibiotics.

The same could have happened with other bacteria, but we don’t know yet. Scientists would have to run a set of different computer models to see if bacteria like E- coli, which mostly spreads via contaminated food, has also become more resistant. But it’s entirely possible.

Why antibiotic resistance is so dangerous to humanity
Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to humanity. At the moment it is a leading cause of death worldwide, killing about 3,500 of us daily. Over 1.2 million official deaths took place because of it in 2019, probably many millions more. And the resistance is not limited to bacteria. It also enables awful pathogens like highly-resistant Candida auris, the source of severe fungal infections.

Top ten list of antibiotic resistant threats
Here’s the top ten, well worth avoiding and all potentially lethal.

Multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
Drug-resistant Candida auris
Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Carbapenam-resistant Acinetobacter
Drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae
Clostridioides difficile (C. diff)
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)
Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

UVC disinfection tech kills antibiotic-resistant threats
Antibiotic resistance is already a horror story, and it could easily get a lot worse. Thankfully our UVC disinfection units make short work of destroying the RNA and DNA inside these pathogens no matter what level of antibiotic resistance they’ve developed, leaving them unable to reproduce, killing them and therefore stopping them in their tracks.

If you’d like to play a vital part in preventing these already-resistant diseases from developing into something truly terrifying, let’s talk.

How our UVC LED lamp technology keeps kids healthy

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 09:00:05 GMT

Our UVC LED lamp technology is tailored to fit any application you like. If there’s a need to specially-engineer our tech to suit your industry, we’re always happy to discuss the potential. So how does it help keep the nation’s children safe from pathogens at school and in childcare settings? Let’s take a look.

Infectious disease in schools and childcare settings
Your child picks up something at school, brings it home, and the whole family gets it. You’re off work either caring for a sick child or recovering yourself, which means the company you work for – or the business you run – suffers. The same happens in every other household whose children have caught the illness. Some kids suffer more than others, as do some adults. All this means the fewer school-related illnesses are allowed to happen, the better it is for everyone.

Local authorities publish guidelines for schools on dealing with infectious disease. Staff are given guidance about working with pupils with infectious diseases. The spread of diarrhoea and vomiting, scarlet fever, dysentery and hepatitis A and more can be controlled with good hygiene. There’s even guidance around avoiding transmission between children and animals, for example on school visits to farms. And of course there are procedures to follow when a school suffers an outbreak of a notifiable disease. It’s no surprise most schools have a trained and named person to co-ordinate the response to infectious diseases.

Thorough cleaning matters
As you can imagine, thorough organic cleaning is vital in places where children spend time. But how do schools afford the high level of hygiene standards required to stop diseases spreading through the premises like wildfire, putting pupils, teachers and support staff at risk?

You can imagine how tricky it is to constantly clean classrooms and common play areas efficiently and quickly. It became apparent during covid how much of a challenge it is. The cost of human cleaners, the chemicals they use, and the sheer amount of time it takes soon stacks up.

Luckily there’s another way. It’s more efficient and effective, doesn’t involve any chemicals, costs very little to buy and is low-cost to run. It’s easy to fit, safe, and works silently in the background to kill a huge list of pathogens in minutes.

Our UVC pathogen-killing lights are the perfect way to clean everything from common areas, bathrooms and classrooms to toys and play equipment, all with clean UV light at a special wavelength. We’ve also created a couple of superheroes, Captain Cool Tech the Silent Guardian and the Cool-Tech Crusader Ultra Violet, to help educate staff and children in keeping infectious illnesses at bay.

Does that sound sensible? If so, let’s talk about helping your school become safer, cleaner, and less at risk of the illnesses that can send kids, teachers and essential school support staff home in droves.

Outbreaks of food borne pathogens – and how to fix them

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 08:47:52 GMT

The world is at constant threat from food borne illnesses. At the moment, as reported by The Guardian , scientists in the USA are warning about a potential rise in ‘fatal bloodstream illnesses’ driven by urinary tract infections – and it’s all down to the food borne bacteria that cause E coli. In Vietnam one person has died in an outbreak of Botulism. Here in the UK one person has died in a recent Listeria outbreak. And there’s trouble in Canada as one manufacturer recalls a bottled drink thanks to the potential presence of dangerous bacteria.

Food borne pathogens are a worldwide issue, affecting manufacturers in the UK as much as any other nation. And the UK’s changing food scene measn we could soon see more problems here. Let’s explore the details, the risks involved, why things could get worse, and how our UVC units can help.

Meat bacteria cause more than 500,000 UTIs a year in the USA
Apparently meat bacteria cause more than half a million urinary tract infections or UTIs in the USA every year, and scientists are worried UTI-driven bloodstream infection deaths could be soaring. Of the 6-8 million UTIs caused by E coli bacteria in the USA annually, between 480,000 and 640,000 could be caused by food-borne zoonotic E coli. Now E coli is becoming resistant to some antibiotics, the number of deaths could start to rise.

Women are at more risk of UTIs in general, and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy believes as many as 50% of women in the UK have at least one outbreak in their life. But how do the E coli that cause these UTIs get into people’s guts in the first place?

While food-borne E coli is found on meat and plant products, it usually comes from farm animals. In the UK it’s the leading cause of bacterial bloodstream infections – and it also happens to be a “chronically neglected area of infectious diseases”.

Food-borne botulism in Vietnam and Canada
Vietnam’s public health experts are busy investigating a ‘rare but life threatening’ outbreak of food borne botulism that has already killed one person and made three others very ill. It’s one of three incidents that have affected Quang Nam province recently, all originating in fish contaminated with Clostridium Botulinum type E. At the same time a Carob drink is being recalled in Canada thanks to the potential growth of Clostridium botulinum in the bottles. The recalled product was being sold across a number of Canada’s provinces.

The symptoms of botulism tend to begin 18 – 36 hours after eating contaminated food – but can turn up as fast as 6 hours or take as long as ten days to arrive. The disease results in vision issues, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty breathing, paralysis, a thick tongue, dry mouth, muscle weakness, and sometimes death.

One dead in UK Listeria outbreak
Food Safety News reports on a potential UK outbreak of Listeria in and around London that has killed one person and caused three other cases. The UK Health Security Agency is investigating whether it’s part of a wider outbreak lasting from November 2022 to February 2023. They’ve found a similar strain in some food products, and in samples taken from ‘food production environments’.

As a result the Food Standards Agency has asked people not to eat Baronet soft cheeses because of Listeria contamination, having found ‘exceptionally high’ levels of the pathogen. More epidemiological investigations are being carried out.

The astounding cost of food-borne illness
A whopping 48 million Americans a year suffer from a food borne illness. It’s bad for the people who become ill, of course, but it’s also very bad for a business’s finances thanks to lost revenue, sky high legal fees, legal action and a ruined brand reputation. According to QSR magazine , the cost of a single food borne illness outbreak in a US food outlet could be as high as $2.1 million. No wonder these diseases cost the US $55.5 billion a year in treatment, lost productivity, and death.

It’s sad to know that all this takes place against a landscape where the costs of handling the fall-out are far higher than keeping people safe from disease in the first place.

How will all this affect the UK in future?
The USA’s food standards are lower than the EU standards the UK used to abide by. Post-Brexit food import deals with the USA and other countries outside the EU could leave us with poor quality food that comes with more risk of food borne pathogens than was possible before. Take American meat. The US has none of the legal controls on animal welfare that we consider vital in the UK. If and when it starts to arrive here, we could see a hike in food borne pathogens in the things we eat.

How our units support excellent food hygiene
Our new duct probe, the CT-X4, is perfect for using above conveyor belts and in all sorts of other food production contexts. It can even disinfect sanitisation cabinets, where products need to be absolutely germ free before leaving the premises. If you’d like to grab an advantage over your competitors and keep consumers safe from food borne pathogens efficiently and effectively, ask us about the CT-X4 .

How dental surgeries benefit from UVC light disinfection

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 16:29:56 GMT

Dentists need to take extra care to keep patients, visitors and employees safe from viral infections like the hospital acquired infection MRSA and the ‘winter vomiting bug’ norovirus. Because there’s always a risk of cross-infection when treating patients at close quarters, it’s important to take extra care to cut the transmission risk of pathogenic bacteria from one person to another.

It’s all about infection control, and our UV disinfection units do an excellent job. This article takes a detailed look at hygiene and infection control in dental surgeries, exploring the impact our simple UVC tech has on the time and effort needed to maintain an impressive level of hygiene.

About the infection risks faced by dental surgeries
There are three ways to pick up an infection at the dentists: from people suffering from a disease, from people who are recovering from an illness, and from healthy carriers of disease. And illnesses can spread directly or indirectly, via the bloodstream or the air.

For a disease to spread there needs to be a source, enough pathogens to make it risky, a means of transmission - for example droplets in the air, a way to enter the body - for example through the nose, plus a host who is susceptible to the pathogen.

What the UK Department of Health says
The UK Department of Health’s Health Technical Memorandum 0105 is about reducing cross-infection risks. It involves a regularly-updated local infection control policy and comes with two categories of requirement, essential and best. Every dental practice should meet and maintain ‘essential’ requirements while always aiming for the ‘best’.

Infection control in dental surgeries
Infection control in a dental practice involves patient protection, hand hygiene, PPE, instrument cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation, packaging and storage, waste disposal, laboratory asepsis, managing spills and sharps, dental units and water lines, plus surgery design. As you can imagine, it can get complicated.

About dental surgery cleaning protocols
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 says dentists must put ‘suitable cleaning protocols’ in place because of the high risk of infection in clinical areas. Each dental practice has a nominated infection controller who ensures clinical staff members are following the infection control policy and the processes and policies are kept up to date. Infection control is also a vital element of the General Dental Council’s Standards for Dental Teams, which talks about putting patients first by treating them in a safe, hygienic environment.

How dentists can disinfect a room quickly within minutes
All this means dental clinic staff face serious responsibilities. As you can imagine the high standards demanded by the law and professional bodies mean it can also take a lot of time and effort to keep everything from reception to the treatment rooms safe and clean. Luckily a particular wavelength of UV light called UVC kills everything from all the covid variants to norovirus, Ebola, MERS, SARS, Legionella, Hospital Acquired Infections, and a long list of other pathogens – and it does so quickly and safely. This makes our machines perfect for dental surgeries.

Our portable UVC disinfection units are easy to move around, super-simple to use, come with a range of safety features, offer a variety of settings, and harness the most effective virus-killing UV wavelength of all. They’re affordable, environmentally responsible, and cost very little to run thanks to the LED bulbs used to generate the UV rays.

The units reduce the need for chemical disinfectants because UVC light disinfection is a chemical-free method of disinfection that doesn’t leave any residue or by-products behind. Because chemical disinfectants can be harmful to the environment - and to the health of dental staff and patients – this is another important benefit of the technology.

In fact our units provide fast, 100% reliable disinfection in a lot less time than it takes human cleaners to do the same quality job. As such it makes a massive difference to the way dental practices are run, saving time, effort and money while providing top class hygiene for patients and staff every time.

See dental surgery UVC disinfection in action
Take a look at this video. Can you see how our units will take your dental surgery hygiene levels to a new level? If you’d like to explore the potential, get in touch with our team.

UVC hygiene and sanitisation for the food industry

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 13:45:00 GMT

In the food sector it’s critical to maintain high hygiene standards. Our innovative new CT-X4 duct probe can be used above conveyor belts, in sanitisation cabinets and in other settings where food products need to be germ-free before leaving the premises. Read on.

2.4 million annual cases of food-borne illness in the UK
According to the Food Standards Agency Norovirus, Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli cause around 2.4 million cases of disease in the UK every year. At the same time it can cost a fortune in legal fees to fight a case of poisoning and compensate victims if there are deaths or long-term health impacts. And then there’s your reputation to consider. No wonder our CT-X4 units are proving such a popular idea.

How our UVC units sanitise 99.9% of pathogens and viruses
The simple-seeming CT-X4 eliminates up to 99.9% of bacteria, mould and viruses, including Legionnaire’s disease. You can install these germicidal Ultraviolet disinfection lamps inside more or less any kind of ventilation duct, old and new. Once fitted they immediately start protecting people from harmful airborne micro-organisms.

The longer the unit operates, the better the results. As well as an instant, impressive reduction in contaminants there’s also a continual, sustained reduction in microbial risks. In fact UV sanitised air quality is super-high, giving you an excellent level of improvement to people’s health, safety and comfort.

The unit itself is light, small, quiet and economical
Small and neat, the CT-X4 comes with no risk of mercury leakage because there’s no mercury involved. No other chemicals either. It’s all about the light. This is green tech thanks to the energy-efficient LED bulbs used to generate the UV. The unit runs quiet and the build is lightweight, made from rust-free aluminium. Flexible installation in-duct makes it an easy-to-fit solution, and indicator lights show you it’s working as it should. As you can imagine all this means very low operating and maintenance costs. We can even make special sizes on request.

Check out the technical specification
Click here to download the full technical spec. Or, to find out more about these highly effective UVC disinfection lamps and how they can help you keep your people and business safe, contact us today.

How long does mobile UVC vehicle sterilisation take?

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:37:36 GMT

If you’ve wondered how long it’ll take our mobile UVC vehicle sterilisation unit to clean the inside of your vehicle, you’ll appreciate this. We’ve built a handy UVC calculator to do the work for you, and it’s the only one out there.

Here’s an example. Our tech cleans the inside of an ambulance in literally a few minutes, decimating this long Kill List of dangerous pathogens and viruses effectively. The same goes for every other vehicle. Afterwards you can be sure the interior is safe, whether you run a taxi service, a limousine business, a car hire firm, a fleet of ambulances or anything else.

How to use our UVC vehicle sterilisation calculator
Calculate how long it takes to sterilise your vehicle like this:

Put in the dimensions of your vehicle
Select ‘200 Watt UVC lamp’
You’ll see how long it takes to kill over 30 viruses and pathogens

We use a special piece of kit called a dosimeter to prove the kill rate is correct. It changes colour depending on the dose of UVC light it’s exposed to, giving you an accurate picture.

See the 200 Watt UVC sterilisation lamp in action
First, take a look at this video of our Ambulance Sanitiser with UVC Dosimeter card.

The next video shows our 200W mobile unit being used to sanitise an ambulance. It’s impressively fast considering the amount of down-time you’d need for a human cleaner to do the same thorough job with chemicals and cloths.

Safe, affordable, ‘green’ disinfection tech for your childcare business

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 08:30:00 GMT

As anyone with a child knows, spending time with kids means you’re constantly picking up the things they pick up – tummy bugs, covid, colds, flu, sore throats, ear infections, conjunctivitis and more.

As a parent you’ll pick inevitably some of them up from your own children. As a teacher or anyone else who works in a school, there’s a greater risk of catching bugs. But there’s no need for school employees to be constantly at risk of getting ill, nor is there any need for everyday childhood diseases in schools to spread like wildfire.

Pupil and teacher health are very important, of course, but it’s also about reducing the number of sick days taken by school staff. In England during 2018-19 the total days of sickness absence taken by teachers was 2,133,253. More than 54% of teachers - 284,186 of them - went off sick at some point during the school year.

This level of employee sick leave also has an impact on school budgets. It’s expensive and time consuming having to find temporary teachers to replace staff who are off sick, and teacher continuity is best for pupils.

If your school has more than one storey it’s likely the windows won’t open for safety reasons. This means spaces inside schools can be stuffy, clammy and even smelly, none of which encourages pupils to stay awake, never mind focus on and enjoy learning!

The secret to clean, fresh, disinfected air and surfaces in schools
Fortunately all it takes is a simple set of UVC units to disinfect the air and the surfaces in a space, perhaps some fitted and others portable, and your school could become a healthier, happier place for everyone concerned.

It’s all down to UV light at a specific wavelength that kills a huge list of viruses, bacteria and fungi fast, leaving the air and surfaces sterilised and a whole lot safer. Our units and lights are low cost, low-energy, environmentally friendly, easy to fit, simple to use, and require little or no maintenance. No chemicals, either.

Combine our popular UVC disinfection tech with our expertise in something called evaporative cooling – which is just as ‘green’ and a great deal cheaper than conventional ventilation - and you can achieve a constant flow of cool, clean, freshly-scrubbed air throughout a building. Which means fewer pupils off sick, a better teacher attendance record, less money wasted on temporary teachers, and ultimately fewer parents having to take time off work themselves to recover from an illness they caught from their child or look after a sick child.

If you’d like to explore the wonderful world of cutting-edge ventilation and disinfection, we’ll be pleased to talk things through. Just get in touch.

UVC light delivers brilliantly effective disinfection to Care Homes

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 20:30:00 GMT

We all know, because of covid, what can happen when a runaway infection finds its way into a care home. It’s tragic. But there’s no need for something like that to happen again... ever.

Our UVC tech helps care homes increase their standards to look after elderly patients, our loved ones who are naturally more vulnerable to infections thanks to their age, health, and compromised immune systems. The same goes for care home staff themselves, who can be just as vulnerable as the people they care for, sometimes without realising it.

In a world where it’s easy for someone to accidentally bring an infection into a care home, our tech helps keep everyone including residents, staff and visitors, safe. It kills a long list of nasty pathogens quickly and easily, it’s cheap to run, easy to fit, there’s practically no maintenance and our tech is environmentally friendly because it runs on low-energy LED bulbs.

The UVC light emitted by our popular disinfection units are harmless to humans and animals, carefully designed with safety in mind. Some are mobile, others are fixed units that can easily be fitted into existing light fixtures. So let’s take a look.

Our upper air germicidal units
Our Upper Air Germicidal Units deliver something called Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation, safe to leave on 24/7. They constantly disinfect the upper air naturally circulated in a room, making them perfect for constant disinfection in shared spaces like care home TV rooms and dining areas.

The units prevent contamination by viruses and germs by significantly reducing the viral load in the air. These clever machines come in an industry standard 600mm or 300mm square, look just like smart ceiling tiles, and there are three models, the X1, X2 and X3.

The X1 uses convection, the X2 uses mechanical extraction, and the X3 uses both surface and air sterilisation to deliver direct line of sight disinfection while the space isn’t occupied, giving you the kind of constant upper air disinfection needed for places like bathrooms and loos, lifts, and any other small space where people don’t hang around for long.

As with all of our units there are no chemicals involved, but they’re absolutely deadly to pathogens - and once they’re fitted, you can more or less forget they’re there. They will carry on quietly in the background, keeping everyone safe from infections.

Our mobile UVC LED Steriliser Units
Our equally popular mobile UVC LED Steriliser Units provide Direct Fixed Surface Sterilisation, giving you an excellent way to complement regular cleaning. The turnaround is super-fast, there’s no downtime, and your cleaning professionals will find it a dream to use. Choose from a 200w or 600W machine, each deployable instantly for intense disinfection.

The units run on LED light bulbs, which emit the powerful UVC light that kills so many pathogens without any harmful mercury vapour. They’re a pleasure to use and completely safe for the operators. You can move them between buildings and rooms to create constant disinfection, and use them in emergencies to disinfect risky areas quickly and efficiently. These machines remain the only truly sustainable, chemical free solution and they’re popular across a wide range of organisations where infections can’t be risked.

Explore our range of UVC disinfection machines
These are just two in a growing collection of mobile and fixed machines that don’t just offer clean, safe environments for vulnerable people to feel safe in. They provide businesses with the reassurance they need as well, and they save money you may otherwise have to spend on teams of human cleaners and cleaning chemicals. If you’d like to discuss which of our units will be the best solution for your care home, we’ll be pleased to advise.

How fungi are no fun – And how to kill them

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:11:19 GMT

If you’ve been watching hit HBO series The Last of Us you’ll probably know more about fungi than you did before the story hit the TV screen. But it’s more than a mere horror show. There are more than 200,000 species of fungi out there, including moulds and yeasts, and a fungal pandemic isn’t out of the question. Take India, where alarm bells rang over the terrible black mould infections from the mould mucormycosis, which killed thousands of covid patients.

Fungal infections have been steadily creeping up for years. This is borne out by increasing numbers of warnings from laboratories, hospitals and health experts around the globe, revealing a sharp rise in potentially deadly fungal illnesses. These infections are raising the alarm at the highest levels in public health. And so far there are very few treatments.

Fungi are often completely harmless but it depends on your state of health. If you’re living with cancer, HIV, or diabetes you’re at serious risk. The same goes if you need major surgery involving a stay in intensive care, or you’ve already caught another kind of serious infection, simply because your immunity to every kind of disease is weakened.

The USA is showing some progress. Back in 2019, pre-covid, the USA’s Centers for Disease Control gave ‘urgent threat’ status to the deadly yeast Candida auris, which had turned up out of the blue ten years earlier and proved resistant to many - and often all - antifungal treatments. There’s also a resistant strain of Aspergillus fumigates on the loose in the USA thanks to farmers over-using antifungal treatments.

Along with new fungal threats, we’re seeing a parallel boom in the number of people vulnerable to them. Sophisticated treatments like chemotherapy, organ transplants, major surgery, and simply the number of years we’re surviving with diseases like diabetes, are all giving these new threats a foothold. And it means the worldwide fungal disease caseload is rocketing.

In response the WHO has released a global survey of fungal diseases, revealing which are the biggest threats to people’s health. Four pathogens were named as priorities. Antifungal-resistant Candida auris is a big issue in hospitals. Aspergillus fumigatus can kill, especially the drug-resistant strains. Candida albicans is another big issue in hospitals, and there’s Cryptococcus neoformans, which infects the brains of the immuno-vulnerable and primarily kills people with HIV. The WHO says all four should be watched, surveyed, researched, analysed, and effective ‘improvements in public health interventions’ made.

As we already know thanks to covid, which is surging again in the UK right now, we need to understand fungal threats before they arrive. It makes sense. If you don’t know what’s coming, how can you prepare?

So far, humanity hasn’t developed any anti-fungal vaccines. If we get a fungal epidemic, there’s no way we could develop, make and distribute vaccines in time to save lives. But in a world where many strains of fungi are resistant to every drug available, it’s urgent.

We can take a fair lesson from the fungal frog pandemic Chytrid disease, which in recent years has caused the greatest recorded loss of biodiversity... ever. So it’s good to see researchers at the USA’s Case Western Reserve University working hard to combat the deadly fungus Candida auris, developing a new treatment.

It’s also good to know how our UVC units take care of a list of potentially dangerous fungi, moulds, and yeasts , killing them quickly and safely. If you’d like to know more about protecting people in healthcare and other settings against fungal threats, we’d be pleased to discuss the potential with you.

Source:
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2023/02/the-threat-of-killer-fungi-infections-is-growing-international-research-team-found/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/superbug-killers-cwru-researchers-develop-treatment-for-dangerous-drug-resistant-fungus/ar-AA17HRtB

The answer to the NHS Trust gas and air scandal

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:09:38 GMT

Did you see the news about several NHS Trusts temporarily stopping using nitrous oxide, commonly called laughing gas, for women giving birth? The Trusts have taken action because they’re worried about medical staff being exposed to harmful levels of the gas in the workplace; according to The Times nitrous oxide at concentrations as much as 50 times more than safe levels have been found in some NHS units. At the same time many hospitals rarely open their windows because of fears around hygiene and spiralling heating costs, so that isn’t going to solve the issue of nitrous oxide build-ups.

Some are calling the Trusts’ actions excessive. Some are saying the NHS is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We say everyone’s wellbeing matters, and we have a sensible solution. There’s an affordable, safe, fast and simple way to clean the air in healthcare settings including maternity units, potentially bringing fresh-scrubbed air into every hospital in the country. All Trusts need to do is combine effective ventilation with the power of UVC.

Why the NHS withdrew ‘gas and air’ from maternity units
The Princess Alexandra hospital in Essex is just one of the places that suspended the use of Entonox gas in February. While the hospital has ordered machines to make the gas harmless, they only have three machines at the moment. So they’ve had to say they can’t offer gas and air to everyone who would like it, prioritising it on a case-by-case basis.

While there’s no risk to pregnant women or babies as long as they’re not subjected to ‘prolonged exposure’ to nitrous oxide, midwives spend a lot of time in maternity units. They could ultimately suffer infertility, a lack of Vitamin B12 which can lead to brain and nerve damage, numb hands and feet, a weak immune system, hallucinations, psychosis, anaemia, incontinence, limb spasms and more.

A constant flow of clean, fresh, scrubbed air for maternity wards
As well as highly effective UVC disinfection, we are experts in ventilation. We believe the solution is an intelligent blend of appropriate ventilation and safe UVC disinfection, perfect for this kind of context where clean air isn’t just important for everyone’s comfort but is also essential for hygiene. If you’ve ever walked into a hospital ward, recoiled from the awful ‘dead-air-tinged-with-goodness knows-what’ smell and wondered how anyone could recover in a place like that, you’ll appreciate where we’re coming from.

So the first step for hospitals is to put air changes into areas at risk of toxic gas build-ups, so they can safely offer gas and air to women in labour while providing a safe workplace for employees.

About evaporative cooling – Uses 90% less energy than ordinary aircon
As the executive director of the Royal College of Midwives told The Times, poor ventilation in delivery suites is just the tip of the iceberg in maternity units. Luckily the clean air and disinfection side of things is resolvable without costing a fortune thanks to evaporative cooling and UV light.

Evaporative cooling as a low cost, ‘green’ alternative to traditional air conditioning. It cuts the cost of electricity compared to conventional aircon, takes the environment into account and can be installed into all sorts of spaces.

Evaporative cooling draws a constant flow of fresh air over special pads saturated with water. Air will take on as much moisture as it can hold, but it has to give up energy in return. It does that in the form of heat, the so-called latent heat of evaporation, so cool fresh air is blown into the building while warm stale air is extracted. The result is an environmentally friendly cooled space using 90% less energy than traditional air conditioning. The tech itself costs less than ordinary ventilation, too.

Fit ventilation with UVC probe scrubbers and you’ll get double protection – and who doesn’t want a constant supply of clean, scrubbed, fresh air? If you think non-recycled air with no danger or disease is what your Trust’s maternity units deserve, let’s talk.

Keep guests healthy – UVC disinfection for cruise ships

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:04:21 GMT

Once you’re on a cruise the ship it’s your home for the length of the cruise. You might be in the company of literally thousands of other cruisers if it’s a big ship . Many of the spaces on board are shared, others are below deck or even below the water level so are short on fresh air. But it’s vital to keep cruise accommodation free from harmful germs, and keep indoor public areas like on-board theatres, gyms, spas and restaurants safe from pathogens.

Why does cruise ship disinfection matter?
On a ship, where people are in close quarters and feeling extra-sociable, disease can spread like wildfire. Large numbers of people in close proximity means person-to-person diseases tend to spread faster. If an infectious agent gets on board it can be distributed right across the ship. Add the fact that the average cruise ship passenger is over 45 years old and often has chronic medical problems, and you can see why safety from infection is paramount.

The majority of cruise ship infections involve respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. There have been many cases of cruise ships having to stop and go home because a viral outbreak has made hundreds of people ill. Take American Cruise Lines, which in 2021-22 was struggling to contain an outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease amongst guests. The disease, a form of pneumonia, can lurk in shower water, hot tubs, spas and places where water is stored. Warm water in a hot tub or spa, for example, provides the ideal breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

The legionella bacterium can even travel in water vapour from the ship’s air conditioning system, exposing everybody on board to the risk. Then there’s Pontiac fever, a type of Legionnaires’ disease responsible for nasty flu-like symptoms.

Norovirus isn’t uncommon on cruise ships either, laying passengers low with vomiting or diarrhea – or both. The norovirus spreads like wildfire in everyday life, faster in a crowd, and it can kill vulnerable people. E. coli and Salmonella are not unusual on board. And of course the same goes for covid, which more or less turned some cruise ships into hospitals during the worst of the pandemic.

The WHO says flu is also a problem on cruise ships, and it can happen at any time of year rather than being seasonal, simply because cruises carry people around the world, crossing seasons as they go from the northern to the southern hemisphere. If you’re vulnerable, a bout of flu can prove fatal. Lastly, there’s a risk of Hepatitis A in contaminated food, water, or poo. It feels like flu at first but it can leave people with severe liver damage.

None of this is good for passengers, and it’s also bad for the cruise ship business itself. The company could be sued if someone dies, and payouts for compensation can be enormous. Luckily cruise holiday companies can harness the extraordinary power of natural light to cut down on harsh industrial chemicals and keep cruise ships and the people who sail in them – including staff – safe.

A collection of different units covering every circumstance on board
UVC light kills all of the above pathogens stone dead in no time. Perfect for cruise ships, we have a clever air duct steriliser to keep people safe. From the second you turn it on the unit delivers an immediate and significant reduction in contamination, and it keeps getting better the longer the unit is in operation. As a result of the UV Sanitised air it creates there’s a direct improvement in the environment’s occupational health, safety, and comfort.

That’s just one of a suite of UVC sterilising units designed to clean the air with powerful, safe UVC light emitted by low-cost, high efficiency LED bulbs. There’s a unity for every eventuality, and they’re low-cost as well as cheap to run with barely any maintenance. If you run a cruise ship and want to future-proof it for your passengers and staff, we’ll be pleased to explore the potential with you.

The battle to beat MRSA – And how our UVC tech kills it

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 16:03:51 GMT

“Our findings offer a potential practical pathway towards significantly reducing surgical site infection rates without risk to the health and safety of patients and medical personnel.” David J. Brenner, Ph.D.

A 91 year old man recently died of an infection in hospital after being sent there following an accident on his mobility scooter. He’s just one of a booming number of MRSA cases in the UK and elsewhere. In England alone one person in 100,000 suffered from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA between April 2021 and March 2022.

At the same time Hospital-Acquired Infection Control Market revenues, estimated at $ 6.1 Billion in 2022, area expected to grow steadily between now and 2033 to ultimately hit an almighty $ 12.7 Billion.

Hospital-acquired infections are becoming more common thanks to more surgical procedures than ever, an ageing population, and ‘the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases’. It’s bad news for all of us. So let’s take a look at MRSA, a bacteria that’s resistant to many antibiotics, which makes it more challenging to treat than other bacterial infections.

About MRSA
Known as the ‘superbug’, MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It mostly infects people in hospital. While antibiotics often work, sometimes they don’t.

The bacteria live on the skin of around 1 in 30 of us, colonising the nose, armpits, groin and buttocks. They spread skin-to-skin and also via shared towels, sheets and clothes, and when you touch something with the bacteria on it.

Having MRSA on your skin isn’t always a problem. It’ll usually go away, taking anything from a few days to a few months to disappear without you even noticing it. But if you’re vulnerable and it gets into your body it can cause serious illness, especially when you’re less able to fight it off because you are already ill or weak.

When it works its way into the skin of a vulnerable person MRSA causes swelling, heat, pain and pus, and the skin can go very red. If it goes deeper you can end up with a high temperature, chills, aches and pains, confusion and dizziness. If you are vulnerable it can easily kill you.

Many hospitals in the UK screen people for MRSA before admitting them. If they find MRSA on your skin you might be given treatment to get rid of it before you can be admitted. This could mean an antibacterial cream for the inside of your nose, used for 5 days. It can also involve antibacterial shampoo. You’ll also need to wash your own clothes and bedding at a high temperature separately from the rest of your household for five days.

If you become infected in hospital, antibiotics are the first step, taken by mouth or jab for as little as a few days to as long as a few weeks, and you’ll either be isolated or put on a ward with others who’ve caught MRSA. As you can see it’s inconvenient for patients, expensive for hospitals, and uses up vital healthcare resources. So is there a simple solution? Yes, there is.

A simple solution to fighting MRSA in healthcare
Can you imagine how tricky – and costly – it would be to have teams of human cleaners constantly cleaning and disinfecting hospitals, clinics and surgeries? Luckily there’s no need thanks to the specific UV light used in our technology, which kills MRSA without damaging human tissue. It’s a simple, low cost, and highly effective solution.

The far-UVC light emitted by our units, which come in a variety of shapes, sizes and functions, will not totally remove the risk of MRSI. Nothing can do that. But it can save time, money, and most importantly people’s lives. If you’d like to discuss how our tech kills MRSA wherever the light touches, within a few short minutes, we’ll be pleased to talk to you.

The Duct Probe CTX4 – Achieve hygienic food production fast with UVC

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 10:00:00 GMT

Our new duct probe model, CTX4, is taking food hygiene to new levels. You can fit it above every kind of working surface, even inside sanitisation cabinets, making sure your food products – and indeed any other kind of product – are germ free before they leave the premises.

Our technology kills bacteria, viruses and moulds in seconds without any chemicals. It uses clean, powerful UVC light at the exact right wavelength to do the most damage to the internal structures of health threats, leaving the DNA and RNA inside bacteria, viruses, moulds and more so badly damaged they’re made harmless.

UVC disinfection systems, also called UVC sanitation and UVC decontamination systems, make short work of disinfecting food production conveyor belts, food transfer tunnels, food hatches, and every kind of surface. Wherever the light hits, it kills and cleans. There are no teams of cleaners to pay, just a dry, safe, fast and highly effective way to reduce bacteria, mould and viruses.

About our popular duct probe model – Meet the CTX4
Micro organisms love to spend time in branched ventilation systems, where the ducts let them spread widely. If there’s an outbreak of flu, for example, multiple people in a food production plant can end up off work. And if there’s a food-based pathogen on the rampage, it can spread frighteningly fast through your duct system.

The CTX4 is perfect for ventilation systems:

A remarkable simple-to-use plug and play UV ventilation system
Works in any ventilation duct, old or new - Easy to install inside your existing duct system
Eliminates up to 99.9% bacteria, viruses and moulds – a significant reduction right from the start
The longer it’s used, the better the results
Emits UVC light in the 200-280nm range
Breaks down the RNA and DNA in micro-organisms so they can’t replicate therefore can’t cause disease
The tech has been used safely for more than four decades
No risk of mercury leaks – the units don’t contain mercury
It doesn’t give off ozone or any other chemicals
Small and quiet
The lightweight aluminium build resists corrosion
Simple indicator lights show you it’s working
Cheap to run and very low maintenance
Special sizes manufactured on request
The overall improvement in air quality gives you better occupational health and safety, fast

Our tech is environmentally friendly because it doesn’t give off dangerous chemicals. It comes with very low maintenance and it’s cheap to run, using energy-efficient LED bulbs. All this means the shelf life of the food you produce is extended, the quality and freshness is better, and you enjoy seriously-reduced food contamination.

Use our in-duct tech to transfer food items from low risk to high care, use it just before packaging, bring it into play at every appropriate stage where there’s a risk. If you’d like to discuss things with an expert, please contact us.

UVC light – Delivering hygiene and sanitisation to the food industry

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 11:00:02 GMT

Since the discovery of ultraviolet light disinfection for drinking water in Marseille back in 1910, UV light has been put to good use to disinfect water, air, surfaces, equipment, and more across all sorts of industries including the food sector. It inactivates and kills dangerous bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, and protozoa to leave our food clean and safe, and it does the job in record time.

UVC disinfection drives impressive food hygiene standards
It’s important because when things go wrong with food hygiene, people get ill and some can die.
The parasite Cyclospora, which sometimes turns up in bags of salad, isn’t deadly but it hospitalises some people. E.coli bacteria in raw meat can cause haemolytic uremic syndrome, a life threatening disease that often affects children. Then there’s poultry, linked to shigella, campylobacter, and Salmonella – which isn’t usually fatal but can be. If you’ve had it you’ll know that even a mild case is extremely unpleasant.

Seafood, shellfish, and fish come with their own bacteria and parasites. Unpasteurized cheese is always at risk of Listeria monocytogenes, an awful infection causing miscarriage, development problems in unborn babies, and severe illness in the elderly and immune-compromised.

In a world where food-related illnesses and deaths can lead to a business being sued, temporarily closed or even permanently shut down, how to food producers keep these nasties at bay and their end-customers safe?

UVC light sanitisation is the answer and it does a remarkably good job, so much better than even a large team of dedicated human cleaners could hope to achieve when working 24/7.

Why UVC light is so good at food hygiene and sanitisation
UVC light is a highly effective food sanitiser. The light’s broad antimicrobial spectrum destroys the DNA and RNA inside viruses, bacteria, yeast, and fungi in seconds, rendering them harmless.

The light is used to treat fresh vegetables and fruit themselves, and their packaging, to kill microbes like Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora. The light even kills tough spores and the process reduces the risk of food going off, extending its shelf life.

No wonder UVC surface disinfection is so widely used by restaurants, food processing plants, food manufacturing businesses and more. It cleans and disinfects everything from food conveyor belts to food packing machines and food containers. It’s used in baking contexts, for ripening, cooling, storage, containers, tops, boxes, foil, lids, and every imaginable food-focused working surface.

If you’d like to discuss how our great quality, low-running-cost UVC units will help your food business hit all the right quality marks, please get in touch. You’ll be impressed with the price, the performance, and the effectiveness of the technology.

Covid in the news

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 09:00:06 GMT

It’s time for a round-up of the covid news from around the world.

Are we starting to pretend covid didn’t happen?
First, The Guardian, which features an article by Emma Beddington. She discusses how humanity managed to forget about the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak remarkably quickly and asks whether our current lack of ‘covid reckoning’ is a sign history is repeating itself. Hopefully not.

Will covid surge in the USA?
The Biden administration is going to let the USA’s covid public health emergency expire in May 2023. From then onwards, while most Americans will still be able to get vaccines free, if you’re covered by Medicare or private insurance you’ll have to pay for covid tests whatever your age. If you need treatment, for example the anti-viral drug Paxlovid, you’ll have to pay for it. And if you’re not insured you’ll need to pay for vaccinations, which in the case of Pfizer and Moderna will cost $120 instead of $30.

At the same time, Long Covid is having a dramatic impact on the US workforce as ‘substantial numbers’ of people can’t go back to work and others need ongoing medical care. The Federal Reserve has been blaming a dwindling supply of workers for high inflation levels and says covid-related deaths are responsible for much of the US’s labour shortage.

Bogus vaccination scares don’t stand up
Fewer than 100 people in the UK have died from covid jabs. Bogus claims say it’s more like hundreds of thousands – but that’s clearly nonsense.

UK sees covid spikes in children and some adults
While the overall number of covid cases has gone down in the UK, we’re seeing a rise in infections in primary and secondary school children and in people aged 35-49.

Under 50? Get your booster now or lose the chance
If you haven’t had a primary booster jab for covid and you’re aged under 50, you’ve got until 12th February to get it.

China suffers as more people die of covid
Rural China is suffering terribly from covid. In one report a local person says twenty people have died of covid during January, in ju s t two streets. The wave has been called ‘devastating’. Europe is on alert for another possible surge in cases after China loosened its restrictions but so far, only Italy has restricted travel.

Japanese tourists stay at home
Covid has had an impact on the Japanese psyche, with people reluctant to go on holiday abroad because of covid.

WHO says covid is still a ‘global health emergency’
The WHO says covid remains a global health emergency, and Canada has begun plans for the long-term management of the threat.

The UK ONS publishes the top 23 Long Covid symptoms
The UK Office for National Statistics has revealed the top 23 Long Covid symptoms. Here they are in order, with the most-reported at the top :

Weakness or tiredness
Difficulty concentrating
Shortness of breath
Muscle ache
Worry or anxiety
Low mood or not enjoying life
Memory loss or confusion
Trouble sleeping
Headache
Cough
Runny nose or sneezing
Noisy breathing (wheezing)
Loss of smell
Vertigo or dizziness
Palpitations
Loss of taste
Loss of appetite
Sore throat
Chest pain
Abdominal pain
Diarrhoea
Nausea or vomiting
Fever

Help the people your business comes into contact with avoid Long Covid by fitting our covid-killer tech. It’s simple, flexible, low cost, easy to use, and cheap to run.

We’re starting to understand what covid does to the brain

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 13:20:49 GMT

The covid virus can have a serious neurological impact, whether it’s brain fog, a headache, a stroke or Long Covid itself. Tens of millions of us around the world are already suffering from Long Covid. Now scientists are beginning to get a picture of how it happens and what’s going on. Let’s explore why it makes more sense than ever to protect the people who come onto your premises from covid.

Covid in your brain
The first thing to know is that covid can get into the brain - and when it gets there it infects the neurons. While nobody yet knows how serious the long term effects can be, and ‘notable damage’ doesn’t seem to be happening, it’s obviously concerning. And it highlights how little we know about the impact of other viruses on the brain.

What we know about covid’s neurological effects
Covid is commonly associated with neurological problems. Some studies show as many as one in three of us with covid will be diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric problem afterwards. It could mean you lose your sense of smell for a long time or permanently, suffer constant weakness and fatigue, headaches, mood swings, depression, meningitis and memory loss. Some people have strokes or seizures. And you remain more likely than average to suffer a serious infection in the two years after having the virus.

One large study showed almost 13% of people developed ‘serious’ neurological problems, including encephalopathy, and people who have them are more likely to need intensive care, die, or have long term health issues. Interestingly the symptoms can affect you even if you only had a mild case.

These results have been borne out in many other pieces of research. As one scientist says, “For people that are more seriously impacted in terms of neurologic conditions, their likelihood of surviving is lower and their likelihood of disability is very high.”

How does covid affect the brain?
Covid can affect blood vessels and blood flow, indirectly damaging the brain. So can the immune system problems seen by people who have had severe covid. A bad bout of covid can also come with a higher risk of inflammation, where your body’s antibodies attack your own tissues while leaving the virus alone. In this case, while the virus doesn’t directly harm the brain, our immune system’s response to it can.

There’s a serious implication to all this: the brain isn’t almost entirely cut off from the rest of the body in the way scientists thought, kept safe behind the blood-brain barrier. The brain isn’t as secure as we’d like to believe.

Covid has been found alive, well and capable of replicating, inside the brains of people who died of the virus. But oddly, it doesn’t seem to cause obvious problems once it’s in there. While this does show how a virus can stay in the body, at low levels, for longer than anyone thought, we still don’t know exactly how being seriously ill damages the brain, nor do we really know what viruses do once they get into the brain.

Better safe than sorry
We know more than we did… but we still don’t know anywhere near enough about the damage viruses like covid can do in the long term, which means it’s unwise to treat covid infection casually.

If you run a business or another sort of place where the public gathers indoors, please do what you can to keep people of every age safe from covid. If you’d like to explore how our UVC technology kills covid and masses of other health threats in no time, cleanly and safely, get in touch for a sensible discussion with the experts.

The latest ‘of concern’ covid variants and more from the ECDC

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 13:15:00 GMT

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, or ECDC, records its covid variants of concern, variants of interest, variants under monitoring, and de-escalated variants regularly. This update comes from their latest report dated 26th January 2023.

The data is created from new evidence on variants detected through epidemic intelligence, rules-based genomic variant screening, and more reliable scientific sources. The rules-based genomic screening is done using an open source algorithm, free for anyone to use.

Let’s take a look at the current situation.

Current Variants of Concern or VOC
Variants of Concern come with ‘clear evidence’ of a ‘significant impact’ on transmissibility, severity and/or immunity, which will be likely to affect the epidemiological situation in the EU and EEA. The data delivers something the science community calls ‘at least moderate confidence’.

At the moment the Variants of Concern are Omicron BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5, along with all of their sub-lineages.

The latest Variants of Interest or VOI
The evidence for the latest variants of interest comes from studies of their genomic properties, plus epidemiological evidence or in-vitro evidence showing an important impact on transmissibility, severity and/or immunity, and again affecting the situation in the EU/EEA. In their case, though, the evidence is either preliminary or a ‘major uncertainty’.

Current VOI include Omicron BA.2.75, BQ.1, XBB (z) and XBB.1.5, and all their sub-lineages.

Current Variants under Monitoring or VUM
Variants Under Monitoring either come with some weak evidence that they might have similar properties to a VOC, or the risk hasn’t been assessed by ECDC yet. To qualify, a variant must turn up in at least one outbreak, be found in an EU or EEA community, or been transmitted through a community outside the EU / EEA.

The Omicron variants BA.2.3.20, BF.7, XBC (x), BN.1 (y), CH.1.1 (z) and XAY all fall into this category at 26th January 2023.

De-escalated variants
There’s good news in the shape of de-listed variants that are either no longer circulating, have been around for a long time without affecting the overall epidemiological circumstances, or don’t have any ‘concerning properties’.

The ECDC’s de-escalated variants list currently includes Alpha B.1.1.7, Epsilon B.1.427/B.1.429, and a long list of minor outliers from the Eta, Theta, Kappa, Zeta, Lamda, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants.

We’ll keep you posted about new covid variants of concern
Because we’ve got our finger on the pulse, we’ll let you know if any dangerous new variants arise. Whatever they are, you can rest assured that because they’re viral our technology will kill them stone dead by damaging their RNA so badly they can’t reproduce. It feels great to know your building is a safe place for people to be, even if those people are vulnerable.

What is a virus, what are bacteria? Here are some definitions

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 13:15:01 GMT

Our easy-to-use, affordable technology kills a huge list of viral, bacterial and other threats to human health quickly and efficiently using clean, powerful UVC light. But what, exactly, are the viruses, bacteria and other things it gets rid of? Here’s what you need to know.

What is a virus?
The word ‘virus’ comes from the Latin word for a slimy liquid or poison. It’s a tiny infectious microbe that multiplies inside the living cells of animals, humans, plants, and even bacteria. Viruses are made from segments of either DNA or RNA covered by a coat made of protein. They can’t reproduce alone. They use parts of the host cell they’ve invaded to make copies of themselves and can end up damaging or killing the host cells. Human viral diseases include covid, flu, AIDS, smallpox and measles.

What are bacteria?
Bacteria are some of the smallest living things, made of just one cell. Despite being so simple a bacterium can move, get energy from food, detect changes in its surroundings, grow, reproduce, and expel waste products. Made up of a cell wall filled with cytoplasm, unlike most animal and plant cells there’s no nucleus. It has a plasmid instead, a circular strand of floating DNA. Bacteria are responsible for illnesses like scarlet fever, food poisoning and meningitis, thanks to the poisons they produce.

What are spores?
Spores are the reproductive cells of some plants and fungi. They can divide many times to make new individuals, working like seeds in the plant world. Many fungal spores contain allergens that trigger respiratory symptoms in vulnerable people, things like a runny or blocked nose, cough, congestion, sinusitis, earache, headache, wheezing, asthma, and sometimes serious bronchial diseases.

What are yeasts?
Yeasts are single-celled micro-fungi found in every natural environment. We know about roughly 1500 species, but there are thousands more we know nothing about. They grow as single cells and produce ‘daughter cells’ by budding or binary fission. Most of them are opportunistic human pathogens. If you’re immune-compromised, dangerous yeasts can kill you. In fact yeast infections are the fourth worst cause of hospital infections, and the results can be so serious they’re just as bad as bacterial sepsis.

What are moulds?
Moulds are microscopic fungi that thrive in damp places. Released in their millions into the air, they get everywhere. They produce allergens, irritants and toxic substances, leaving humans with allergic reactions including asthma attacks. They are also responsible for mycotoxins, some of the most dangerous toxins on earth. Toxic moulds include Penicilium, Fusarium, Stachybotrys, Aspergillus and Cladosporium, with symptoms ranging from an allergy to a life-threatening illness.

What are protozoans?
Protozoans are single celled organisms in all sorts of shapes and sizes, everything from a flexible-shaped amoeba to a Paramecium, which is a fixed shape. They live in a wide variety of moist places including fresh water, sea water and the soil, and can be either independent or parasitic. They eat organic matter, including other microorganisms and organic tissue. Common illnesses caused by protozoans include malaria, giardia, and toxoplasmosis.

Do our UVC units kill them all?
Yes, the wavelength of the UVC light we use in our portable and fixed units is the most effective at killing off all of these health threats quickly and effectively. This leaves the air and surfaces in an indoor space clean and safe for workers, visitors, suppliers and anyone else who spends time at your premises.

Highly effective disinfection for ventilation ducts

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 13:15:01 GMT

Our disinfection technology comes in all sorts of designs. One of the latest is our in-duct air purification probe, cleverly designed for use in ventilation ducts. Welcome to our CT-X4 Series of disinfection lamps, perfect for installation into just about any kind of ventilation duct.

Why fit Germicidal Ultraviolet lamps in ventilation ducts?
Why fit them? Because covid means we’re all a lot more aware of the many airborne threats that can turn up in buildings. Fitting our highly effective Germicidal Ultraviolet lamps into your building’s ventilation ducts helps protect people from harmful airborne micro-organisms including bacteria, moulds, viruses, and Legionnaires Disease. The tech works equally well in both older and new ducts.

An immediate and significant improvement
The units create an immediate, dramatic reduction in the kind of contaminants that make people ill, affect people’s work, and make the workspace unpleasant and unsafe to be in. The units then go on to deliver an ongoing, sustained reduction in microbial residue over time, and the effect is more powerful the longer they’re used.

The result is excellent UV Sanitised air quality, which in turn creates an overall direct improvement to the environment’s occupational health, safety, and comfort.

The tech comes with a wealth of features that make it safe, clean, easy to use, and cheap to run. There’s no risk of mercury leaking. The units are small so don’t take up a lot of room. They don’t make a noise, and the simple ‘plug and play’ operation makes them super-easy to use. Made from corrosion-resistant lightweight aluminium, they are rugged and long lasting with no rust and no degradation.

Our in-duct germicidal UVC lamps don’t generate any ozone, or other secondary chemical compounds. They are proven to kill as much as 99.9% of bacteria, mould and viruses. They come with really flexible in-duct installation and handy indicator lights reveal when they’re working normally. The operating costs are very low and they’re cheap to maintain as well. Last but not least we’re happy to build them in special sizes if that’s what you need.

Clean air, happy people, healthy workspace
As Action For Clean Air says, employees and customers are concerned about air quality, with 72% of people in the UK saying clean air is more important now than ever thanks to covid. 85% of people surveyed pinned down at least one specific pollution-reduction measure they want businesses to take.

Scientists agree. Clean Air is vital for protecting those with existing health conditions, helping people recover from illnesses either caused or made worse by unclean air, and of course preventing people catching illnesses in the first place whether it’s at work or in places people gather: shops, theatres, restaurants, schools, gyms and more.

There are also some great business benefits to the tech. You can attract the best employees because they know you care about their health, and good people will stay with you for longer for the same reason. It’ll help you create a trusted, respected brand, save you money and hassle because fewer employees go off sick, and can even have a positive impact on productivity.

Contact us to find out more about how these innovative units will help you and your business keep people safe.

Covid in China – An alarming start to the Year of the Rabbit

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 13:15:02 GMT

China says it has seen almost 13,000 covid deaths in hospitals during the week between January 13th and 19th. The number doesn’t include people who have died at home.

More than a billion people in China have been infected so far. President Xi Jinping is particularly concerned about the spread of the virus in rural areas, most of which don’t have any medical resources.

China’s current covid death rate
China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says 681 hospitalised patients had died of respiratory failure caused by covid and just under 12,000 had died because of ‘other diseases’ combined with an infection. Some experts in China say the country has already passed the peak covid period for patients in fever clinics and emergency departments, and with critical conditions.

The independent forecaster Airfinity believes daily Covid deaths in China will peak at around 36,000 over the Lunar New Year holiday. They also estimate more than 600,000 people have died from covid since China’s zero-covid policy was abandoned.

Two billion journeys
Tens of millions of people have travelled to celebrate Lunar New Year with their families, something that hasn’t been possible since covid first arrived, and there are real fears about new outbreaks. Chinese New Year represents one of the biggest mass-movements in the world, with a total of around two billion journeys made during the holiday.

One Chinese health expert says there won’t be a second wave
One senior Chinese health official says China won’t see a second covid wave driven by the New Year celebrations simply because almost 80% of the entire population has already been infected. They reckon that in the short term, in the next two to three months, the possibility of a second wave is very small. Others disagree. At the same time the WHO says the covid death figures provided by China are ‘far lower’ than expected.

The ultimate outcome in China, and therefore for the rest of us, depends very much on whether any new variants of concern arise from the millions of new infections.

Hold your breath and hope...
Right now thousands of Chinese holidaymakers are flocking to Thailand’s beaches for the first time since 2019. We’ve been remarkably fortunate, so far, that the virus hasn’t morphed into something a lot more infectious as well as more serious. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Which covid variants to look out for in 2023?

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 13:03:21 GMT

We introduced the new ‘Kraken’ covid variant last week. Now experts are predicting it’ll probably become the dominant variant throughout the UK this year, along with another omicron mutation called CH.1.1. What’s the story? Read on.

Two new covid strains will dominate the UK in 2023
The so-called Kraken is already surging dramatically in China. It is overtaking the USA too. It has turned up in South Africa, Romania, Gibraltar and more, and scientists are saying it will dominate the UK before long. The omicron variant CH.1.1 is on the up as well.

At the moment most UK covid cases are the BQ.1 variant and its sublineages. But as Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections at the UKHSA, said: "Through our genomic surveillance we continue to see evolution of variants in the Omicron family. UKHSA is constantly monitoring the situation and working to understand the implications for public health. Vaccination remains our best defence against future COVID-19 waves, so it is still as important as ever that people come forward and take up all the doses for which they are eligible as soon as possible."

UK covid infections have recently hit the highest level since mid-July 2023. The Office of National Statistics says around 2.9 million of us had it over Christmas, one in twenty and double the number we had in the UK in early December 2022.

Apparently infection rates are up across the entire UK right now. In Northern Ireland the levels are the highest since March 2022. There are hot-spots in the North East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, the East, South East and South West. And it looks like there’s a high number of cases in younger children at the moment, as well as people aged 50 or more.

Does Kraken come with a bigger risk of even longer long covid?
The Kraken variant might be less severe, but it is also more contagious. There are early hints the variant might come with a higher risk of not just Long Covid, but even longer covid – with symptoms maybe lasting for years. We don’t know yet.

What about CH.1.1?
CH.1.1 is one of the most immune-evasive variants of all. In some countries it has managed to hoover up the Delta variant’s R mutation. There are concerns this might make it more pathogenic, in other words more dangerous. Again we’re not sure yet.

The good news?
Experts say the Kraken strain arrived when two different strains of BA2 Omicron sub-variants combined. Despite being tipped to dominate the UK, Kraken hasn’t been labelled a variant of concern by the UK yet. The WHO it might have a ‘growth advantage’. There’s no evidence it will be more harmful than previous sub-variants. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Early warning scheme – Tracking dodgy viruses via genetics

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 10:35:48 GMT

There’s important work going on to help deal with viruses in future, and it might be able to warn us about the risk of nasty outbreaks. The science involves routinely sequencing the genes of viruses like flu and RSV, which give humans serious respiratory infections, in an effort to invent more effective medicines and vaccines. Doing so might even make it easier to track potentially dangerous outbreaks in future.

Welcome to the Respiratory Virus and Microbiome Initiative, led by Ewan Harrison at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge. Here’s the low-down.

What the science involves
The plan is to collect samples of virus from people suffering nasty respiratory infections and sequence the viral DNA. The new tech is due to be tested later in 2023, with the intention to roll it out through 2024. So far the UK team is the only one planning the work but they hope the rest of the world will join in, which is why they’re making the methods and data freely available to anyone who wants it.

This is how we discover variants
Covid saw many countries routinely sequencing many thousands of samples, essential to pin down what the virus was up to. This is how scientists discovered the omicron variants, accurately predicting they’d spread fast around the world. For the first time, governments and policymakers were warned about the likely development of an epidemic. The project builds on this essential work.

Finding out exactly what makes these viruses tick
It’s strange but true – we still know very little about the viruses that cause humans such serious respiratory issues. There’s been a small amount of work on flu virus genome sequencing but it isn’t routine and other viruses are more or less a mystery. Current testing only reveals the kind of virus it is, for example a rhinovirus or adenovirus.

To know more about a virus we need to sequence its entire genome. Once we do that we’ll know more about the most effective treatments and will be able to make better vaccines. We’ve already seen it in action informing the updating of crucial mRNA booster shots.

Because sequencing viral genes reveals how they spread, the insight should be vital for containing the spread of viruses. The work is also predicted to help us spot new emerging diseases early, something we’ll struggle with without routine genomic surveillance.

The technology and methods developed by the team will be ‘extremely useful’ according to Judith Breuer, a virologist at University College London, who told New Scientist magazine, “This is an amazingly important initiative.”

In the meantime, here’s how to kill viruses fast, affordably, and efficiently
With the hot new subvariant ‘Kraken’ on the loose, spreading fast, the more we can find out about future viral threats the better. Knowledge is power, and our virus-killer tech is as powerful as it gets, clean, safe, fast, simple, and cheap to run. If you want to keep people safe from all sorts of nasty illnesses and infections at your premises, it’s an excellent solution.

About the covid BF.7 and Kraken XBB.1.5 omicron subvariants

chris@lucidsynergy.com (Chris Witham) — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:05:00 GMT

Every new covid infection gives the virus the chance to mutate. Every single person who catches it risks being the one in whom a new strain or variant is born. So what are the latest covid subvariants on the block?

About the BF.7 omicron subvariant
One subvariant, BF.7, is currently the main variant in Beijing and is apparently responsible for a surge across China. BF.7, which is short for BA.5.2.1.7, is actually a sub-lineage of the omicron variant BA.5 and it has the strongest ability to infect out of all of China’s omicron subvariants. It has a shorter incubation period than any other and comes with a greater capacity to infect people who have already had covid, been jabbed, or both.

About the XBB.1.5 omicron variant
A highly transmissible covid-19 subvariant called XBB.1.5 has fast become the dominant cause of infection in the USA. Some are calling it ‘The Kraken’. Thankfully while it’s a whole lot more infectious than previous subvariants, it looks like the symptoms it causes aren’t any more serious. than usual. It’s highly likely this will become the dominant worldwide variant, and it’ll probably happen very quickly.

So far The Kraken has been doubling almost weekly in the USA, making it the country’s fastest-spreading variant, responsible for at least 40% of new cases. That’s a dramatic change from early December 2022 when it accounted for just 1%. In north east USA it could be responsible for as many as three quarters of all covid infections.

XBB.1.5 has made its way to at least 28 other countries so far, including the UK and Australia. By mid-December 2022, according to the Wellcome Sanger Institute, it was already responsible for around 4% of UK cases.

What’s the genetic story behind XBB.1.5?
The Kraken was created when two covid variants swapped genetic material inside the same person. It’s genetically similar to other omicron subvariants, but comes with a better ability to stick to and infect human cells. It’s better at avoiding immunity than previous variants too, thanks to changes in the spike protein targeted by jabs. And it better escapes antibodies in blood samples from people who had three jabs of the CoronoVac vaccine, in those who’ve had two doses of an mRNA vaccine, and in people who have recovered from covid recently.

Luckily vaccines still give us some protection. As long as you’ve had at least two jabs you’ll be less likely to become seriously ill or die. Protection is even better with UK and USA bivalent boosters because they target subvariants a lot like XBB.1.5. This doesn’t bode well for the USA where only around 15% over aged 5 have had the latest booster jab.

Covid treatments and ways to stop the spread
When the pandemic began we didn’t have any treatments for covid. Many of the new treatments available, including antiviral medicines, will still be effective against XBB.1.5 but experts are still recommending masking and improving indoor ventilation to slow the subvariant’s spread.

Three years down the line, humanity has been incredibly fortunate. So far there hasn’t been a new variant that causes more severe symptoms, and so far we haven’t seen a brand new virus. These latest variants, while more efficient and more infectious, remain controllable. But there’s no reason, with China neck deep in covid and cases surging elsewhere, why something extra-nasty won’t emerge.

Take steps, prepare, be ready. Let’s talk about how our tech prevents covid spreading in workplaces, entertainment spaces, public places, and everywhere people gather indoors.

Welcome to 2023 - Big questions around successive covid waves

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:03:29 GMT

“In the face of waning immunity and an ever-evolving virus, it is clear that herd immunity won’t be possible anywhere without better vaccines. Going into 2023, big questions remain over the long-term health impacts of the virus and the best way to manage successive waves of infection.” (New Scientist magazine 22nd December 2022)

Welcome to 2023. We hope it’s a successful and profitable year for your business. So what’s the latest news on covid? You’d be forgiven for thinking the pandemic was mostly over. But as the quote at the top of this article reveals, we need to stay alert.

About the new normal
Humanity has settled in to the new normal, with most nations opening back up to trade and visitors by the end of 2022. It’s a natural reaction to almost three years of the pandemic, simply because it’s hard to stay on constant full alert. No wonder just 16 countries, including the USA, are still banning unvaccinated arrivals and only one European country, Kosovo, still has travel restrictions. England is in the process of lifting its remaining restrictions. From 24th February 2023 people testing positive won’t need to quarantine, but they’ll still need to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least 5 days.

In December China revealed plans to open up to a limited number of foreign visitors for the first time since 2020, although a PCR test will still be required. At the same time case numbers are rocketing. On 9th January a Chinese official said almost 90% of people in China's third most populated area have covid, and there are increasing reports about the country’s healthcare system in crisis.

We still need to be covid-alert
Yes, things have calmed down in many areas of the world. But it looks like we still need to be prepared. In Iight of the covid variant XBB.1.5, the most transmissible yet and nicknamed the ‘Kraken’ variant, it makes even more sense to be proactive rather than reactive if you run a business.

Without people, you don’t have a company. Workers make the business world go round. When your people are staying home because they’ve caught the latest variant and managed to give it to their colleagues, how will you keep the business going? What if a key staff member goes off sick then ends up with Long Covid, unable to work to their full capacity for weeks, months, even years? How fast can you get a replacement, assuming you can find someone suitable? How steep will their learning curve be, how long will it take the new person to get up to full speed?

Have you factored covid into your business risk assessment plans? If not, make 2023 the year you do so, and get protected to grab a competitive advantage.

Keep your people healthy and your business running
Our technology is built to keep businesses of every size running by protecting workers, visitors, suppliers, customers and everyone else on your premises safe from covid plus a huge list of diseases and pathogens. They keep the air clean by killing viruses, bacteria, moulds, spores and more, both quickly and safely.

Our units are very good value for money considering how hard they work. They’re easily fitted in no time and there’s no maintenance. Because they run on LED bulbs they cost very little in terms of energy. And if we get any more waves or surges, you’ll be in a much better position to keep working, keep producing, and keep delighting your customers when all around you, your competitors are struggling to cope.

Sounds good? Let’s talk.

Festive greetings – Stay safe, stay healthy, stay profitable

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:14:55 GMT

It’s time to wish all our customers and prospective clients a wonderful festive break. We hope you have a lovely Christmas and an enjoyable, successful and profitable 202 3.

We’ve spent 2022 fitting our anti-covid lights and mobile units in a host of different commercial settings, supporting business owners who want to keep their employees safe and well, and protect people who visit their premises. We have no idea, obviously, how many people have NOT caught covid, winter vomiting virus, flu and all the other nasties thanks to our UVC disinfection technology, but we get a lot of pleasure from imagining it!

Let’s take a look at what the experts are saying about the future of covid in 2023.

Covid runs free in China
China has reported its first three covid related fatalities but there are doubts around the accuracy of the official count, which seems far too low when there are independent reports of funeral homes being unusually busy. The virus is ripping through various Chinese cities now their strict controls have been relaxed but, apparently, in major cities many people are still staying in.

The nation’s chief epidemiologist says China should expect a series of covid waves. Wu Zunyou says the current wave will probably run from now until mid-January. A second wave will follow soon afterwards thanks to hundreds of millions of people travelling to celebrate the Lunar New Year from 21st January. Then there will be a third wave running from late February to mid-March.

International travel means covid is likely to re-emerge in other places around the world. We just have to hope no dangerous variants or subvariants emerge from China, which has a total population of around 1.413 billion and relatively low vaccination levels. Some say there could be more than a million deaths there during 2023.

WHO predictions for worldwide covid in 2023
According to worldometers, the total global covid death toll so far is 6,672,313 (19th Dec 2022). So what’s going to happen next? Let’s take a look at what the World Health Organization says.

The WHO is hoping covid will stop being a global public health emergency some time during 2023. They also say the virus is here to stay, and will need managing along with other everyday respiratory illnesses.

The current weekly death toll, which is around 20% of what it was earlier on in the pandemic, is in their opinion still far too high. As the WHO’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “Last week, less than 10,000 people lost their lives. That's still 10,000 too many and there is still a lot that all countries can do to save lives."

The WHO will be discussing the state of the pandemic in January 2023, at which point they’ll decide if covid remains a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ or not. If it is safe to do so they might declare an end to the pandemic’s ‘emergency phase’.

The WHO is still expecting waves but there are fewer cases, hospitalisations and deaths, and the deaths are ‘largely’ people who haven’t been vaccinated or not had the full course of vaccines. Apparently, while over 13 billion jabs have been given, about 30% of people in the world haven’t been vaccinated at all.

What does New Scientist magazine say?
What else went on in 2022? Many countries decided to end almost all their measures to control the virus, but it is still causing waves of illness across the globe. The end of Februarys saw Iceland move from zero covid to ‘herd immunity’, letting covid spread while shielding vulnerable people. A month later cases had more than doubled. It was a controversial move but other nations in the EU followed suit.

The omicron variant set off a surge in global cases and Hong Kong suffered the worst because it hadn’t vaccinated many of its older people. Hospitals were overwhelmed and death rates were unusually high. Omicron caused record numbers of infections in the UK too but ‘living with covid’ became the norm. When widespread testing ended the picture was hard to see but the Office for National Statistics kept counting. By early November this year an estimated 2.1 million people in the UK had long covid. The US dropped its own measures in 2022 and Australia and New Zealand fully reopened their borders.

As a New Scientist article from 14th December concludes: “In the face of waning immunity and an ever-evolving virus, it is clear that herd immunity won’t be possible anywhere without better vaccines. Going into 2023, big questions remain over the long-term health impacts of the virus and the best way to manage successive waves of infection.”

Support a non-covid 2023 with our technology
Are you risk-aware or risk-averse? Will you be carrying on like there’s no covid any more, or are you more inclined to protect your employees and everyone else who comes to your premises with our smart, low cost, simple and cheap-to-run UVC tech?

Strep A and Monkeypox – The latest

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 10:00:00 GMT

In the UK so far this year more than 60 people have died of Strep A, including 15 children, who died thanks to ‘rare but severe’ complications. At the same time Scarlet Fever cases are higher than they usually are and new Monkeypox cases – now re-named Mpox by the WHO – are still emerging. Let’s take a look at the details behind the diseases doing the rounds right now.

Thanks to New Scientist for the insight into Strep A, and to ECDC Europa and the UK government for the information about Mpox.

First, the latest news about invasive Strep A
Strep A is a bacterium from the group A streptococcus. Many of us carry it in our mouths and throats without realising it. The most common symptom is an acute sore throat, called a ‘strep throat’. If the symptoms also include a sandy-feeling rash, a fever, and a headache, it’s probably Scarlet Fever, which is most common in young children. Ordinary antibiotics are usually the key to treating strep throat and scarlet fever.

Now and again the bacteria goes rogue to cause very severe infections. Invasive group A streptococcus disease, also called iGAS, is the result and it can kill. The symptoms include fever, dizziness, confusion, low blood pressure, a rash, and abdominal pain.

Strep A spreads through saliva and snot, usually through sharing utensils or breathing in droplets after someone has coughed or sneezed. Invasive strep A is more common in people over 75 but so far no older people have died from Strep A in the UK.

There was a similar Strep A outbreak in 2017-18 but this year’s has come with many more child deaths. Nobody knows why but it could simply be down to a higher post-covid infection rate, where more children are getting infected this year, along with a surge in other viral diseases, which tends to boost the risk of bacterial infections. The number of Scarlet Fever and Strep A cases we’re seeing right now is the highest since 2017, but not as high as the previous peak in spring 2018.

Could a dangerous strain be to blame? It doesn’t look like it. But there’s been a new strain of S. Pyogenes on the loose, which makes more than nine times as much toxin as other strains, and it’s been circulating in the UK since 2014. It might be at the bottom of the country’s worrying hike in Scarlet Fever and invasive strep A. It’s also worth noting the UK is the only country seeing a higher than expected death rate from invasive Strep A.

Second, the latest news on Monkeypox – Now called Mpox
Mpox transmission has already fallen significantly thanks to high vaccination rates across the most at-risk groups. Case numbers have stayed low recently, reducing dramatically from 350 a week in July to just five a week in week 1 December. The NHS continues to do what it can to limit its spread in the UK and from imported cases.

Mpox still mostly affects men aged 18 to 50 who sleep with other men. Weekly cases peaked in the UK during July, and have declined steadily ever since thanks to good communication and community engagement, increasing natural immunity, and vaccination. Winter itself helps cut the spread of Mpox, simply because fewer people are going to the ‘large cultural and social events’ where the risk of spread is the highest.

EU and EEA countries are continuing to raise awareness in health professionals, support sexual health services, and carry on detecting the disease, along with ongoing contact tracing and case management.

What to do when we’re all more aware of viral and bacterial risks
Our units, sterilisers and lamps don’t just kill covid. They kill a long list of bacteria and viruses, moulds, protozoa, spores and yeasts. Which means your premises is clean, safe and free from many of the everyday health threats that competing businesses without protection are vulnerable to. If you’d like to grab yourself a competitive advantage when businesses around you are suffering because everyone’s gone off sick, let’s talk.

Hamsters help deliver high hopes for a new covid drug

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:40:12 GMT

The latest stats, up to and including 3rd December 2022, saw a 12.2% rise in UK covid cases, a 24.8% drop in covid deaths, and an 11.7% rise in covid hospitalisations. There’s also some potential good news going forwards with a new drug that targets the body’s ACE2 receptors – there’s a decent chance it might also fight off new covid variants. Let’s see what’s going on out there.

Can a new drug protect us against new covid variants?
Current covid treatments and vaccines work against the virus itself, but they’re set to become less effective as it mutates to avoid immunity. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been approved for treating gallstones and liver conditions. It does so by inhibiting cells' ACE2 receptors, the same ones the covid spike protein attaches itself to, and it might also protect people against new covid variants.

The research into FXR, ACE2 and UDCA
A team at the University of Cambridge has discovered that a molecule called FXR regulates the activity of the ACE2 receptor. They’ve also proved previous research showing UDCA, in turn, regulates FXR.

Nine hamsters were given a human-level dose of UDCA and infected with the covid Delta variant a week later. Just 33% of them caught Delta, compared with all the hamsters in the control group who’d been given a saline solution instead of the UDCA. The hamsters given the saline solution had also lost far more weight four days after catching Delta, while the UDCA hamsters actually gained weight.

The results suggest that while UDCA won’t prevent the virus getting into cells, it reduces the amount of virus entering them as well as cutting down how much it replicates. And that could be very good news indeed in a world where more new variants aren’t an ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when’.

The same effect was noted when the drug was tested on a pair of human lungs intended to use in a transplant, which turned out to be unsuitable after all. Levels of ACE2 in the treated lung had roughly halved, while there was barely any change in the control lung.

The conclusion – Next comes human trials
It looks like a UDCA-like drug might be good for people with suppressed immune systems, whose immune response to vaccination isn’t very good. Some are already offered the drug Evusheld, whose antibodies bind to ACE2, where they stop covid getting a grip. Because ACE2 is the doorway through which covid gets into our bodies, closing the door means it can’t replicate itself. So it dies off without needing help from the immune system.

While UDCA will never replace vaccination, which remains the best way to stay safe, it could work together with vaccinations to keep people safer. The next step is human trials.

Disinfect your premises to help keep everyone well
Reduce the number of days people take off-sick. Keep your employees healthier – and by doing so help them to protect the vulnerable people in their families. Play your part in keeping covid and other diseases at bay so there’s less risk of dangerous variants arising. And do it all at a surprisingly low cost with our brilliantly effective, easy-to-fit, maintenance free lamps, units and sterilisers.

Is there such a thing as a post-covid immunity debt?

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 14:15:00 GMT

It’s a vital question. Do people have a so-called 'immunity debt' and if so, does it put us at more risk of infections in general?

The idea behind immunity debt is that the covid lockdowns reduced our exposure – therefore our everyday immunity - to other infections. There have been some confusing reports in the media, so who’s right? Here’s what the scientists say. Thank you, as usual, to New Scientist magazine for the insight.

The theory behind immunity debt
The idea is that some countries are experiencing more respiratory infections than they did in pre-pandemic times thanks to the lasting impact of lockdowns. While doctors accept the theory, there have been reports in the newspapers about it being a sham, mainly originating in the USA but one crept into the Financial Times as an ‘opinion piece’. It claimed the idea of an immunity debt is ‘misguided and dangerous’.

So who’s right? The first problem is, ‘immunity debt’ means different things to different people. The second issue is that the way nations responded to the pandemic has become so politicised. There’s significant tension between the people who were in favour of lockdowns, masks and vaccines and those who denied covid, who thought there was no need for restrictions. Luckily, thanks to science rather than politics or feelings, we can pin down the truth.

The truth about this year’s flu and RSV levels
In the northern hemisphere the first two pandemic winters saw far fewer cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus than we saw before covid. This is almost certainly why we’re seeing such high rates of both viral infections now in the UK and USA, and it’s also why the UK’s Health Security Agency feel this year’s flu vaccination campaign is so vital.

How about RSV? Doctors are already concerned about number of extra cases of RSV caused by immunity debt, and our paediatricians are worried kids will encounter a ‘perfect storm’ of health issues over the next few months.

All this means immunity debt is very real. But there’s another dangerous rumour to squash around immunity. While covid deniers say higher levels of respiratory infections prove children’s immune systems have been damaged by their lack of exposure to the normal childhood infections, this is absolutely not true.

The immunity debt argument doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have had lockdowns, either. If we’d left the virus to spread unchecked, with death rates of over 1%, we would have seen a disastrous number of deaths.

Right now, because of vaccines and the milder omicron variant being dominant, the current UK fatality rate has dropped to around 0.04%, the same as flu. And this is why so many countries have now dropped their covid restrictions.

The truth about immunity debt
At the end of the day, as it is in so much about life, the truth is more complex than politicians and anti-restriction campaigners would like it to be. Lockdowns have saved millions of lives, but there have also been downsides – one of which is almost certainly immunity debt.

New vaccine successes and looming vaccine failures

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 14:00:00 GMT

This time around we explore an exciting new vaccine against the HIV virus, which was responsible for one of the most tragic epidemics of recent times, killing more than 40 million people since the early 1980s. We also take a look at China’s failure to vaccinate, and the repercussions for the nation’s failing no-tolerance covid policy.

Vaccine drives HIV antibodies in 97% of people
It was only a small study. But the news that an experimental HIV vaccine has created antibodies in 35 out of 36 volunteers is big news. So far, however, we don’t know whether it provides protection against infection in the first place.

The two dose vaccine had no severe side effects and seems to prove the concept behind a relatively new approach to HIV vaccination. Based on the antibody levels people got from two doses, it looks like booster doses will be on the cards to actually avoid infection.

Like many viruses HIV mutates fast, making it hard to come up with effective vaccines. The mutated viruses simply evade vaccinations. The new vaccine stimulates B-cells to generate ‘broadly neutralising’ antibodies that mess with the bits of the virus that don’t tend to mutate. The team involved hopes fine-tuning the method could develop vaccines against other fast-mutating viruses, including the flu.

China's vaccination failure makes easing restrictions risky
China’s zero covid policy has protected millions from mass infection, but now the people have had enough and they’re protesting. At the same time China’s failure to vaccinate older people means easing lockdowns could mean millions die.

Relaxing restrictions risks causing a ‘vast number’ of deaths, predicted by experts to fall somewhere between 1.3 and 2.1 million, a figure arrived at via complex computer modelling based on Hong Kong’s experience in March 2022. Hong Kong saw a huge spike in fatalities in March because just 30% of people aged over 80 were vaccinated, and because hospitals were overwhelmed the spike was worse than it needed to be. But they still only suffered about half the deaths we saw in the UK.

Most countries brought an end to restrictions without experiencing a surge in fatalities, thanks to high levels of immunity from vaccination and infection, and in some cases because the most vulnerable people had already died. Take New Zealand. While it saw death rates rise after its own zero-covid policy ended, because more than 90% of people there aged over 60 were vaccinated 430 per million people have died of covid in New Zealand, compared to 3200 per million in the UK.

Apparently death rates in China could be even higher than in Hong Kong. Only 40% per cent of over 80s in China have had a booster, most of whom had theirs over a year ago. Waning immunity in China means protection levels have probably fallen well below those Hong Kong saw in March. At the same time China only has half the number of critical care beds available as Hong Kong, hinting that China could see a big wave with as many as 1500 deaths per million people, a total of over 2 million. China’s own official predictions are much the same.

Worst of all, because China stuck to its policy for so long but didn’t come up with a Plan B, increasing vaccination levels in older people could take months to set up. They’re already reporting tens of thousands of cases a day, and experts predict it is only going to get worse... and that means an increased risk of new variants and subvariants developing. With international travel back to normal again across most of the world, a dangerous new variant could arrive on our shores within hours.

How to kill covid at work
This is the perfect time to take responsibility for your own business and the people who work with you. Our covid-killing tech is low cost to buy, cheap to run, easy to fit and kills covid along with a host more nasty pathogens quickly and efficiently thanks to clean, safe UVC light. Our tech even kills common cold and flu viruses to support better productivity and a more predictable business landscape. It’s amazing, and it could save your business while others around you are failing because people keep going off sick.

New symptoms, latest covid variants, UK covid status

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 14:00:01 GMT

We all know you can still catch covid, or be reinfected, despite being fully vaccinated and boosted, thanks to variants like omicron. The ZOE Health Study says increasing infection levels prove covid hasn’t gone away, and that we still need to be vigilant. Now we’re seeing news of new covid symptoms, with two ‘early warning’ signs to look out for.

In Norway a study interviewed 111 out of 117 guests who attended a party in winter 2021, where there was an outbreak of omicron. 66 people definitely had covid and 15 more were ‘possibly’ infected. 89% of the 111 studied had been given two doses of an mRNA vaccine, and none of them had a booster jab. All the infected, fully-jabbed people showed the same sort of symptoms:

Persistent cough
Runny nose
Fatigue
Sore throat
Headache
Muscle pain
Fever
Sneezing
Nausea

If you’re fully vaccinated it can be hard to distinguish between covid and a common cold. On the other hand experts at the ZOE project say about half of all ‘new colds’ at the moment are actually covid. So what are the early warning signs? Apparently fatigue and fainting or dizzy spells are signs you could have picked up covid. This is borne out by doctors in Germany, who have spotted a clear connection between the infection and recurrent fainting spells.

High hopes from the USA about the covid XBB variant
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the new covid XBB subvariant and the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants now represent more than 50% of all US cases. The XBB strain has spread the most in the north east USA, with over 5% of infections in the regions linked to XBB. The same variant is spreading fast in some South Asian countries as well as other parts of the globe, thanks to international travel.

While XBB cases are ‘potentially doubling’ every 12 days or so, faster than the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants, the US government says they don’t think XBB will pose an omicron-level threat. They say the surges seen so far appear to be seasonal, not specifically because of the variant.

At the same time the previous omicron variants of some concern, BA.4 and BA.5, have dropped away across the USA. It looks like BA.5 is driving fewer than 20% of new infections and BA.4 has ‘virtually disappeared.’

UK covid stats for the end of November 2022
So what’s going on in the UK right now as regards covid? These numbers are the latest, covering the week ending 15th November. The percentage of people testing positive is still dropping in England, Wales and Scotland, but the trend for Northern Ireland is ‘uncertain’:

In England we had around 809,200 people testing positive, 1.48% of the population, about 1 in 65 people
In Wales we had around 45,400 people testing positive, 1.49% of the population, 1 in 65 people
In Scotland, 83,700 tested positive, 1.59% of the population, 1 in 65 people
In Northern Ireland 34,100 tested positive, 1.86% of the population, about 1 in 55 people, no change from the previous week

Keep the battle going
This is no time to stand still. If you’d like to play a vital part in helping stop the ongoing spread of covid and flu, and kill a host more horrible pathogens including MERS and Ebola stone dead, give us a call. Our tech does exactly that affordably, simply, and reliably.

Do it for the kids – Kill RSV, flu and covid FAST

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 14:00:15 GMT

“I’ve been in the NHS 22 years. Never have I seen social inequalities impact health so visibly on the ground.” Michael Absoud, Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

UK child health – The good news and the bad news
Do you have a child? If so there’s good news and bad news.

The good news? There’s an exciting new mRNA universal flu vaccine being tested, and it looks like it might protect people against all 20 different influenza A and B strains. The bad news? There’s a ‘perfect storm’ of health issues facing the UK’s children this winter. Let’s take a look at what the scientists are saying. Many thanks to New Scientist magazine for the insight.

When immunity goes down, the risk goes up
Kids in the UK returned to school in 2021. Now we’re entering the first winter in years where people of every age can mix without restrictions. As a result all of us have lower immunity to seasonal flu, whatever our age, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

While covid is usually a mild illness in children, reducing immunity and spending more time indoors in winter means covid is predicted to rise in every age group. At the same time flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) rates are predicted to ‘soar’.

Kids are both the biggest drivers of transmission for both illnesses as well as the worst affected. Mumps and measles vaccination rates are falling in England too, adding yet more risk.

What’s happened so far this year?
Australia’s winter flu season usually gives us an idea of how the flu will behave over here. Before covid they’d see flu cases rising from June onwards. This year it kicked off earlier, probably because of overall lower immunity. So far this autumn Ian Sinha from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital says there have been more children with flu-related chest infections and pneumonia this autumn compared to previous years.

Michael Absoud at Evelina London Children’s Hospital says while RSV is usually mild, it can lead to pneumonia in babies and severe chest infections in children. He’s expecting a big RSV wave and because pre-pandemic immunity has waned thanks to covid restrictions, it could be a problem.

Add mumps and measles to the pot and the NHS could be hit hard this winter. While measles is usually mild it can cause serious complications if it spreads to the lungs or brain. It is also one of the most infectious diseases in the world. Catch it and you’ll pass it on to an average of 15 other people.

What’s the most risky winter illness for kids?
Covid poses a risk to children but the experts are more concerned about flu and RSV at the moment. Scientists are also worried about the impact of the cost of living crisis on children, thanks to damp, cold homes and a poor diet. Exposure to damp and mould leaves kids at a higher risk of developing asthma and fungal infections. Then there’s the financial nightmare many families are facing, which affects children’s mental health. As Elaine Lockhart at the Royal College of Psychiatrists says, “Children are hugely affected by the health and well-being and functioning of the adults in their lives. Parents may be struggling with their own mental health or may be stressed about having to work more hours. It becomes a really vicious cycle.”

Kill pathogens indoors to help protect children
Independent clinical testing proves our lights kill at least 99.9% of a multitude of viruses, bacteria, and fungal pathogens including Norovirus, C. diff, E. coli, Salmonella, MRSA, C. auris, Covid, SARS, MERS, flu, Ebola and more. The clean, powerful UV light they emit gets everywhere, into every nook and cranny, keeping people of every age safe from illness and interrupting the spread of diseases.

More disease and death – Why caring about covid helps the NHS

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 09:00:04 GMT

The covid pandemic isn’t over. While the worst of it might have receded for now, at least in the UK, deaths linked to the virus carry on. Long Covid remains prevalent, there’s a boom in mental health problems, and we’re seeing developmental problems in children who spent months without access to ‘basic human experiences’.

The NHS was overwhelmed during the worst of the pandemic, and we’re also seeing the fallout from that with an upsurge in deaths from cancers, heart disease, and diabetes cases that were undiscovered and untreated. Covid has caused a dramatic reduction in the number of adults in the workforce, and millions of us are still trying to cope with bereavement.

New figures show hundreds more people than officials expected are dying every month in England from cancer. Since the beginning of September we’ve had almost 900 more cancer deaths than expected for this time of year.

Cancer-wise, missed diagnoses during covid are being made worse by the current NHS crisis. In the worst week of all the NHS saw just under 230 extra deaths, along with ever-rising numbers of people suffering from heart problems and diabetes, which have been increasing since spring 2022.

At the same time NHS waiting lists are already at a record breaking high, a backlog of 7.1 million patients and a number that’s predicted to keep rising until at least 2024.

The struggle ordinary people are facing right now is borne out by worrying news about more of us claiming unemployment and related benefits. Twice as many people are claiming in some parts of the UK than there were pre-covid. In fact the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s South West Surrey constituency has seen a 95% increase in claims since March 2020.

Liver disease in England and Wales is killing more people since covid kicked off. Nobody knows why but there’s a theory it’s down to a combination of difficulty accessing healthcare during lockdowns and people drinking more alcohol through the pandemic. March 2020 and June 2022 saw 3,834 excess deaths caused by cirrhosis and other liver diseases in England and Wales compared with the rolling five-year averages, a rise of almost 20%. And there were 3,466 excess deaths from diabetes, up almost 25%.

Infections from antibiotic-resistant superbugs have more than doubled in health care facilities in Europe, something that’s being laid at the feet of covid. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control report says two highly drug-resistant pathogens increased in 2020, then jumped ‘sharply’ in 2021. Acinetobacter bacteria more than doubled compared with annual pre-pandemic figures, and Klebsiella pneumonia cases increased by 31% in 2020, then 20% in 2021. The outbreaks can be traced to intensive care units and EU countries where antimicrobial-resistant infections were already widespread.

Help the NHS, help the economy - Keep people safe from covid
News like this reveals clearly why we’re still so worried about covid, and why we’re so keen to get our covid killing tech into as many businesses and indoor spaces as possible.

The fewer of us get covid, the less the burden on the NHS and the economy, and the fewer of us will go on to develop long covid. It’s simply common sense to do everything you can, as a business with visitors and suppliers and customers as well as employees, to stop the virus in its tracks and prevent it from infecting people.

If you’d like to play your part in protecting the NHS, the economy, and your own business, let’s talk.

Covid news from around the world – It’s still out there

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:30:00 GMT

Watch the news, read the papers, explore social media... it’s all gone quiet over there, so quiet you’d think the pandemic is over. It isn’t, and it’s still causing chaos around the world. Here’s where the world’s most hated virus is making its presence felt at the moment.

China locks down again in the face of covid surges and deaths
China has locked down one of its most important southern transportation hubs as it fights yet another surge, the biggest covid outbreak in the country since April 2022. There’s also news of rising cases in Beijing, where they reported China’s first covid deaths in nearly six months.

Guangzhou is one of China’s biggest cities, home to almost 19 million people. They’ve just locked down for five days in the Baiyun district, where there’s one of the country’s biggest airports. Schools and public transport will close down, and people are being asked to stay home.

Last week Guangzhou reported 8,181 cases, the region’s worst outbreak for three years. In the same time period China reported 26,824 new cases in total. And in Beijing there were three covid deaths over the weekend.

Hong Kong Chief Executive tests positive
Hong Kong's chief executive tested positive just a few days after meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok.

Australia falls victim to another surge
In Australia there are fast-climbing case numbers being reported in Victoria, with covid restrictions in Melbourne preventing people from visiting sick relatives in hospital.

UK care home staff booster jab worries
There are concerns about a potential new covid outbreak in UK care homes because less than one in twelve care home workers has had their latest booster jab. Looking at the wider health service 33% of staff haven’t had their latest booster yet, and scientists fear January could see a bad outbreak. Some say it could be worse than 2021’s omicron surge.

No virus operates in a vacuum
Because viruses affect people, no virus operates in a vacuum. Say a person from your office catches covid. They come into work because that’s what a lot of people are doing these days. While most of us would stay home with flu, too many of us are going to work with covid. Imagine that person gives covid to six other employees, three of whom have to stay home because they caught a bad case. So who does the work they usually do? Maybe one of them ends up with long covid, unable to work normally for months or even years, leaving you a crucial employee short and them without a job. Maybe one or two of them pass the covid they caught at work on to their families, some of whom might be vulnerable.

The best way to go forward, as a responsible employer, is to make sure you do everything you can to keep people safe from covid at work. It’ll help protect your bottom line, protect your employees, and keep everyone who comes into contact with them safer. The result will be a stronger economy.

Our tech kills covid fast, efficiently, and cheaply. If you’d like to know more, get in touch . Together we can make sure covid doesn’t cause more damage than it needs to.

5 signs jabbed people are infected, plus long covid insights

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 16:24:31 GMT

A few days ago the media announced a drop in covid infections across all 4 nations in Britain for the first time since the summer. It’s good news, but we still need to be careful around vulnerable people and do what we can to stop covid spreading this winter.

Apparently there are five signs you’ve been infected with covid even though you’ve been vaccinated. Here they are. We also take a close look at one woman’s experience of Long Covid, following the announcement that close to a million of us in the UK have been living with ongoing symptoms for at least a year.

Vaccination means lighter symptoms and faster recovery
The most common symptoms for people who’ve been fully vaccinated are the same as the symptoms reported by people who have never had a jab, but vaccinated people don’t get as ill and their illness doesn’t last as long. The evidence is clear – have a jab and you’ll be less likely to get seriously ill, and you’ll also recover faster.

How covid symptoms have changed since 2020
Things have changed since 2020. If you’ve been jabbed but get a runny nose, take care. It might not be a cold. While you may not feel too bad, it’s wise to have a covid test all the same. The second commonest covid symptom among vaccinated covid patients is headaches. Sneezing is third, sore throats come fourth, and the fifth most common is a persistent cough, which was a leading symptom back in 2020. If you have a sore throat that feels worse than a normal sore throat, the advice is to get tested because it could be covid.

While some covid patients are still losing their sense of smell, getting short of breath, and having a fever, these once-common symptoms are now way down the list.

One woman’s experience of living with Long Covid
As reported on MSN, 25 year old New Yorker Lily Seibert tested positive for covid early in the pandemic, on 24th March 2020. Her flu-like symptoms stuck around for three weeks or so but the shortness of breath, light-headed feeling and increased heart rate stayed with her for eight months, leaving her unable to walk for longer than 15 minutes and feeling terrible after climbing an ordinary flight of stairs.

Lily started off using inhalers, antibiotics and breathing exercises to cope with the shortness of breath, none of which worked. Eight months in she tried acupuncture, which worked for a year and helped her feel better – then stopped working. Now she still has symptoms and is trying her best to ‘make peace’ with the situation she’s in. It’s tough for Lily. She was a keen sportswoman before she got covid, now her life has completely changed. Long covid symptoms have made a lot of everyday activities a challenge.

One day Lily was living a normal life, the next she lost a suite of vital abilities. None of the therapies she has tried have worked, although some have been helpful in managing the symptoms. She’s been to many different doctors , first a primary care provider, then a cardiologist, then a doctor who has been specialising in post-covid patients. Her recovery is an ongoing process but Lily says her experience proves that nobody in the medical sector has the answers.

It sounds like Lily has had a very difficult time, and she’s still coming to terms with the changes Long Covid has brought. In her words, "There is a constant up and down feeling of being hopeful one day and feeling deflated the next day. It is hard to keep a stable mood or mindset as you never know how you could be feeling on any given day."

Would you save someone from Long Covid if you could?
If you could do it easily, safely and affordably, would you do what you can to keep people safe from the risk of Long Covid? Our LED UVC tech does exactly that, and it’ll help you prevent the spread of new covid variants and sub-variants in the UK population. It’ll also mean your employees are less likely to catch covid so less likely to go off sick. It’s a win-win-win, and we’ll be delighted to discuss the potential with you.

Omicron subvariants ‘soup’ threat – Plus soaring RSV in the USA

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:00:00 GMT

The latest covid subvariants BQ.1.1 and XBB are on the run, spreading fast, and it means there’s a new threat on the block. XBB and BQ.1.1 have very different mutations. Neither causes more severe illness than omicron. But what scientist are calling a ‘soup’ of new coronavirus subvariants looks set to drive a wave of infections across continental Europe, the UK and the US this month. Some countries are already experiencing it, others are just about seeing the end of it.

So far covid has leapt from one lineage to the next, for example delta to omicron. New variants overtook the originals pretty fast. Now there’s a new mix of subvariants out there, displaying an entire portfolio of mutations right across the virus’s genome.

It looks like high levels of immunity are creating evolutionary pressure to favour immune-evading variants. Because early on in the pandemic we saw so many fast lineage jumps as covid got better at infecting us, that side of things is now optimised. The many new, smaller mutations we’re seeing mean the virus us doing its best to avoid the immunity the human race has acquired.

One of the most worrying is BQ.1.1, a subvariant we’ve been talking about recently. It’s descended from the omicron BA.5 subvariant BQ.1 and has so far turned up in 65 countries. It accounts for half the cases in France at the moment and cases are doubling weekly. No wonder it’s already so widespread. BQ.1.1 might also be what’s driving most covid cases in Africa but limited testing on the continent makes it hard to tell – and that in itself is pretty worrying.

The BQ.1.1.subvariant has six mutations affecting the surface of its spike protein, the protein vaccines use to generate an immune response. So far it looks like the mutations are letting it evade the neutralising antibody responses we get from previous infections and vaccines. In fact BQ.1.1 has one of the highest immune-evading mutations out there.

The omicron subvariant XBB is hitting India hard at the moment, the country it first turned up in. Like BA.1.1 it’s a potentially powerful foe. It came from a ‘recombination event’ where two different BA.2 descendants infected one cell, exchanging genetic material to create a hybrid subvariant with seven key mutations for evading immunity, more mutations than any other circulating subvariant so far. XBB is also rife in Singapore, along with its descendent XBB.1, and it’s busy making its way around Asia, found in 35 countries so far.

The USA’s huge RSV surge
The USA is mired in a serious RSV surge right now. Respiratory syncytial virus mostly affects young children, and the surge is already overwhelming North American hospitals.

Most of us have had RSV by the time we’re two years old, and it’s very common. Mild cold-like symptoms are normal but it can be life-threatening for children aged less than five as well as older people and the immunocompromised. About 160,000 people die of RSV per year and so far there’s no treatment and no vaccine. Luckily there are vaccines underway for kids and old people, and they could be with us as early as 2023. It’s important news since the hospitalisation rate in the USA for RSV was nearly double what it was a year before, and we’re also seeing dramatic rises in the UK. In fact the number of kids in hospital in the UK with RSV was reported as ‘soaring’ by the media last week. The flu is also spreading at record rates this year.

Kill viral threats in minutes with our LED UCV tech
It kills Ebola, one of the most deadly viral diseases known to mankind. It kills SARS and MERS along with a range of Hospital Acquired Infections. It kills covid and the flu. Our technology uses simple but powerful UVC light at a specific wavelength to kill a wide range of awful diseases, and does it in no time, at low cost, very simply. If you’d like to play a vital part in stopping the spread of covid and other health threats, we’d love to discuss the potential with you.

Cooltech UVC at Knowlex

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 11:19:51 GMT

Healthcare Facilities Management Con ference

W e recently attended the Healthcare Facilities Management 2 day Conference at The NEC Birmingham. Watch Collen talk about some exciting new UVC Sanitising products available now.

Covid rises in China and Australia, Long Covid hits 3 years for some

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:49:05 GMT

This week China is reporting a sharp rise in covid cases in Beijing, Guangzhou and Zhengzhou, signalling the potential for more lockdowns that’ll affect manufacturing in the cities.

The number of covid infections in Queensland and Victoria, Australia, has just shot up by 60% in a week, prompting calls for people to wear masks once more, and a 40% rise in New South Wales has promoted warnings from officials.

At the same time the Kyle & Jackie O Show radio host, Jackie Henderson, has revealed on air that she’s 'struggling with this fatigue' thanks to Long Covid, and has been advised by medical experts to stop working. And we’re beginning to see reports of people who’ve been suffering from Long Covid for three years, still struggling to recover.

While it’s great to be able to forget about covid, and it’s human nature to eventually get used to a bad situation, it’s clear we can’t. We still need to take care of ourselves and others.

The listed symptoms and side effects of covid
The symptoms of covid are officially listed as fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, vomiting, loss of taste or smell, and in some cases no symptoms at all. The complications of the virus are listed as pneumonia, viral sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, kidney failure, cytokine release syndrome, respiratory failure, pulmonary fibrosis, paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and of course Long Covid.

Blistered feet and hands – A new covid symptom
At the moment around 1 in 40 of us in the UK has the virus, according to the Office of National Statistics, and cases have begun to fall. But there are reports of a new and rare symptom turning up in covid sufferers – blistered feet.

The Royal College of Podiatry has given advice to people suffering the problem. Apparently ‘covid toes’ affects the skin on your feet, causing the toes to first go red, then purple, and then swell up. The condition is the most common in children, teens and young adults. The result is a lot like a chilblain, and because covid is such a new virus the exact reason behind the condition is a mystery. It can also affect your hands, leaving them blistered, itchy, painful and bumpy.

Booster vaccine reminder
The NHS is reminding those who haven’t taken up their booster vaccines to have them. And we’re seeing early warnings that an increase in hospitalisations could ‘topple’ the NHS. Vaccines are our first and best line of defence, vital when, for example, in one Manchester hospital 8-9% of beds are already taken up by people suffering from covid.

Experts appeal for people to stop being complacent
Cases may be low at the moment but experts are still advising people to be cautious around covid as the winter approaches since the number of immune-evasive variants and subvariants is increasing. Older people are under particular threat of re-infection. Dr Simon Clarke of the University of Reading and others say we need to know cases will soon begin to increase. He also says we ‘don’t yet have a great feel for what society’s level of protection against severe disease will be’.

Professor Azeem Majeed, head of Public Health at Imperial College London, says vaccination is essential for the nation to get through the winter. But he also says the government has made things more difficult because they’ve stopped providing free test kits. He believes increasing public health warnings during the autumn and winter could help avoid soaring case numbers and swerve a potential new wave.

Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist for immunisation and countermeasures at the UK Health Security Agency, agrees. He’s expecting to see ‘growing cases of covid’ in the weeks to come.

How to kill covid quickly, easily, and affordably
Our UVC units are either portable or static, depending on the sort of space you want to disinfect and how you want to do it. They’re super-easy to fit into existing light fittings. They are affordable to buy and because they use LED bulbs they’re very cheap to run. They kill covid in no time at all and can clear a room of the virus within just a few minutes. Our tech is a brilliant way to do the decent thing and help protect the UK against another wave.

Latest covid advice – It’s confusing

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 13:47:08 GMT

Current official guidance means the public are no longer legally required to quarantine. But experts say it’s advisable for the safety of other people, especially as covid cases are still ebbing and flowing, and there are warnings the NHS will struggle this winter. So what do you need to do to stay safe from covid and keep others safe?

The government’s ‘Living with Covid’ plan means there’s no legal requirement to tell your employer if you test positive, and no need to self-isolate. But when you think logically, is it really a good idea to go to work when you’re sick? Would you go to work with a bad cold or flu, potentially infecting your colleagues?

It’s confusing out there, since some of the advice contradicts itself. The government website says you need to ‘try to work from home if you can. If you are unable to work from home, talk to your employer about options available to you’. On the other hand you don’t have to test for covid before going anywhere, including to work. And while there’s no legal requirement to tell your employer you’ve got covid, you’re still ‘encouraged’ to follow the government’s guidance for people who become infected with the virus – which means self-isolating for seven days.

So what do you do if you feel ill? According to the Department for Health and Social Care, you should work from home if possible and avoid contact with other people if you have symptoms for five days. If someone is vulnerable you’ll need to avoid them for ten days. If you have to leave the house you should wear a face covering and avoid crowded and badly-ventilated places. But their information hasn’t been updated since June 2022.

On 3rd November 2022 an estimated 2.1 million of us had Long Covid, 50% of whom have been suffering for at least a year since catching covid. It’s most common in people aged 35 to 69, in women, in deprived areas, in people who work in social care, people aged 16+ not in work and not looking for a job, and people with an activity-limiting health condition or disability. Fatigue is experienced by 70% of those with Long Covid, along with problems concentrating (45%), shortness of breath (42%, and aching muscles (42%). These symptoms affect the daily lives of 1.6 million people, 73% of people with the condition. Do we really want to put anyone else at risk of long covid?

Advice for children with covid
According to the NHS, people of any age who have symptoms or don’t feel well enough to go to work, school, college or do normal activities, should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They say you can go back to your normal activities when you feel better, or no longer have a high temperature.

There’s more official advice for kids from the NHS. If your child has mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or mild cough, and they feel well enough, they can go to school, college or childcare. You’ll need to encourage them to carry out basic hygiene like they should with a cold or flu. Most children will recover in a few days with rest and plenty of fluids. Elsewhere we found conflicting advice: if a child or young person aged 18 or under tests positive they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days from the day after their positive test.

Because young people are infectious for less time there’s a much lower risk they’ll pass covid on to other people. But surely we still need to do what we can to stop the virus spreading and mutating?

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. A recent Radio 4 programme revealed many schools are insisting children go to school with covid, while preferring those with colds and flu to stay home. Does that make any sense? Why is it important for them to go to school with covid when you’d be unlikely to send your child to school with a bad cold or flu?

It’s hard to know what to do – but one thing is clear. We all need to do our bit to protect each other from evolved versions of the virus that could end up a lot worse than the covid that first emerged from China.

How to keep everyone safe from covid indoors
Our technology is proven to damage covid’s DNA and RNA so badly it can’t reproduce, effectively killing it off. Our lamps and portable machines are designed to clean a space quickly and efficiently, and they’re cheap to run as well as affordable in the first place. If you’re concerned about spreading covid through your business or school, it’s an excellent way to keep people of every age safer, and do your bit to keep covid under control in future.

Pandemic update - Are you covid-aware or ignoring the risk?

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 12:00:00 GMT

You’d be forgiven for thinking humanity is splitting into two groups: those who still consider covid when planning the future for their business, and those who think it’s all over. The smart money is on the former group, the people to whom covid still matters, employee safety still matters, and the health of all the people who interact with the business is still taken into account.

At the same time it can be tricky to do the right thing when we’re not being led from above. The government isn’t talking about covid at the moment, and hasn’t talked about it for some time, but thankfully scientists know better.

If you’d rather follow the science than trust politicians, you’ll want to keep ahead of the progress of covid’s autumn wave and do what’s necessary to make sure you don’t play a part in spreading the virus further than it has to. Here’s the news.

The winter covid wave is here – and people are allowed to go into work with covid
A surge in cases reveals there’s a new wave underway in the UK, along with warnings by experts that covid will put terrible pressure on the NHS this winter. If you believe you have covid symptoms, NHS advice is to take a lateral flow test then isolate at home for five days if you test positive, also taking particular care not to infect vulnerable people for 10 days after a positive result.

At the same time, even though the threat from covid is still very real, people are turning up at work with it. While you’re allowed to go into work when you’ve tested positive for covid, and there is no legal obligation to tell your employer if you’re infected, in our opinion it’s madness to put others at risk by taking the virus into work with you, and worse still not even telling anyone you’re positive. You’ll just end up spreading it to your colleagues, who’ll take it back home with them to infect others.

The government’s advice is one thing, but common sense is another. We highly recommend you fit our tech to make sure the people who work at your place – and visit it – can feel safe.

Care homes suffer needlessly when our tech can save them time and money
It’s shocking. This sentence appeared in an article in the Daily Mirror this week: “One of the biggest challenges is care homes will not take medically-fit Covid patients until they test negative. It can also take four to six hours to fumigate a room that had a Covid patient in.

The article went on to say, “Staff are already having to masterfully move patients around like chess pieces to free up beds for those most in need... sometimes you’ve got to fumigate them which can take hours.’”

This is terrible to hear when our affordable, simple-to-fit machines disinfect a room in just a few minutes, leaving every surface the light touches free from covid and safe from a load of other pathogens as well.

The latest on covid subvariants BQ. 1 and BQ .1.1.
Two new omicron subvariants, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, are quickly gaining traction in the USA, accounting for 27% of infections on 29th October 2022. They’ve also turned up in the UK and several countries in the EU. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has already classified BQ.1 as a ‘variant of interest’. They say by week 2 November the two new variants will be responsible for over half of new covid infections, and 80% of them by New Year. So what’s the latest insight into the new variants?

So far BQ.1.1 seems highly transmissible. The data from some countries reveals it is probably more transmissible than other current variants. The ECDC thinks the increase in the growth rate of BQ.1 is driven mainly by immune escape, with the virus able to invade our immune response despite previous infections and vaccinations.

BQ.1 comes with new mutations called K444T, N460K, L452R and F486V. BQ.1.1 contains an extra mutation, R346T, which is also found in the BA.5 variant. These mutations are associated with ‘significant immune escape and antibody evasion’.

One study reveals it’s likely the immunity people get from previous omicron sub-lineages, and from vaccination, will not give us broad protection against reinfection by BQ.1.1, but the study hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet.

It’s already clear the new variants have the highest capacity for immune evasion yet. On the bright side there’s no evidence that BQ.1 causes more severe illness than BA.4 and BA.5 but on the downside, one recent study shows BQ.1.1 could be resistant to one of the antibody therapies that protects vulnerable people.

Please keep people safe at your place
It makes sense in a business context to keep your employees safe from infection, and your customers. But it’s also the decent thing to do to keep millions of others safe from potential new variants that can only develop if covid is left to spread willy-nilly. So ask us about our covid killing tech – we’ll be pleased to help and it costs nothing to get a quote.

19 reasons why you need our brilliant covid killing tech

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Because it’s what responsible business owners do to keep their employees safe, healthy, and in work for the long term
The experts are saying this is no time to relax
The winter covid wave is already happening
Because you can advertise the fact in your marketing materials so benefit from a better brand reputation, attract the best hires, and keep great employees for longer since you clearly care about people’s welfare
There are two new variants in the UK and elsewhere, one of which is a variant of interest. Both are thought to be more infectious than previous variants
Our technology is proven scientifically to work hard to kill covid and many more nasty pathogens in a huge range of contexts, from hospitals to care homes, theatres to shops, libraries to pubs
It means you don’t have people constantly off sick with covid
You’re helping the UK fight the pandemic as it carries on almost unchecked by the authorities
It’s great value for money, super-easy to fit, and very cheap to run
There’s no maintenance
Our tech kills covid and many more pathogens in a matter of minutes
UVC has been used for decades in healthcare settings to kill pathogens like covid
You do what’s needed to help keep the UK’s vulnerable people safe
Your competitors are suffering high levels of absence because of covid, but your workers are fine – and that means you enjoy a competitive advantage
The tech is very simple to use
It’s completely safe thanks to the special UVC wavelength we use
There are different units to suit various circumstances, including portable sterilisers and units you can easily add to existing light fittings
Because people who don’t catch covid don’t get Long Covid, potentially remaining ill for months, even years after they recover from covid
Because your business is less likely to have to bear the cost and inconvenience of long term staff sickness

Get in touch to find out more about our popular anti-covid units and create a better future for your business, your people, and the UK.

Business owner? Avoid weird post-covid cognition problems

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 09:00:00 GMT

The media silence mostly continues. Governments mostly do nothing. If you’re perplexed about the current winter covid wave unfolding quietly in the background, you’re not the only one.

Covid’s 2022 winter wave gains traction
Covid infections in the UK have hit two million for the first time in three months, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. Infections have risen in the past 7 days in England and Wales and the trend remains uncertain in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The biggest increases are in Yorkshire, The Humber, the West Midlands and the South East, and overall case numbers are the highest since late July 2022.

What if your employees go off sick - Then return less able to work?
Who suffers when people go off sick, and maybe return to work less able to do their job than before they caught the virus? Your bottom line suffers.

It’s time business owners took things into our own hands and acted to protect our businesses against the winter wave that’s already underway. Especially since it is underpinned by an early flu season, and exacerbated by the fact that because so few of us have had flu for so long that it’s hitting us hard.

The news that covid affects human cognition in weird ways makes it even more important to do everything possible to keep the virus at bay. It looks like people are suffering ‘lingering impairments’ to multiple aspects of their cognition.

What is ‘cognition’?
Cognitive processes include thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-solving, all high-level brain functions encompassing language, imagination, perception, and planning. As you can imagine, all of these could have catastrophic impacts on the way people behave and function at work.

Covid has changed people’s personalities, as discovered by a study of more than 7000 adults in the USA. The research revealed people who have had covid are less open to new experiences and less conscientious than they were before the pandemic. Add the fact that the pandemic has left people less extroverted and agreeable than before and it makes even more sense to protect your employees as best you can, for their sake and for yours.

Findings about the longer term cognitive effects of covid
If you’ve had covid you’re likely to have ‘lingering impairments’ across several aspects of cognition although, on the bright side, memory loss is less of an issue.

We’ve known for a long time that covid causes a long term decline in cognition, among other symptoms. Now a more detailed analysis using the Cambridge Brain Sciences online cognitive assessment tool has measured it via twelve tasks involving reasoning, verbal processing, memory, processing speed, and overall cognition.

The study involved 478 adults who’d already been infected at least once, at least a week to nine months beforehand. 14% of them were hospitalised with covid. The results were compared with the pre-pandemic scores of 7832 people. On average, people who had been infected with covid had ‘significantly lower overall cognitive scores’ equivalent to ageing around four and a half years. Even people who’d had a mild dose of covid were affected. As a rule the worse your covid, the worse the effect.

What parts of the brain are affected most?
Brain processing speed saw the worst effects, equivalent to getting 8.5 years older. Verbal processing and reasoning were also ‘significantly lower’ in people who’d had the virus.

There were no significant issues with memory. But on the downside, the method used to measure the differences focuses more on short term memory, which could explain the difference. It’s also possible that the stress of living through a pandemic could have had an effect.

The next step is to examine how people compare the way their cognition feels now with their pre-pandemic selves.

Less agreeable, less conscientious...
Employers have another very good reason for protecting their workers from covid. The pandemic seems to have left us – in particularly younger adults - less extroverted, less agreeable, less open to new experiences, and less conscientious than beforehand. And it might be down to actual personality changes.

A 44 question test was based on the so-called Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The team analysed data from people who had completed a personality test before and after the USA’s covid restrictions came in. Then they compared real personality changes during the first and second year of covid with the normal personality changes expected over the period.

The researchers discovered ‘significant changes’ comparing pre-pandemic survey responses to answers provided between January 2021 and February 2022. Agreeableness decreased almost one and a half times the typical rate, extraversion decreased at about twice, and openness went down almost two and a half times the usual rate. But conscientiousness decreased nearly three times the norm – the same amount of change you’d usually see over an entire decade. And people under 30 years old saw their conscientiousness decrease around two decades’ worth.

As you’ll know as a business owner, low conscientiousness is associated with worse work performance! Luckily our technology keeps people safe from covid in a simple, effective and affordable way.

Is it a permanent or temporary change?
Nobody knows how long the effects last, or whether they’re permanent. But it makes sense to help your employees in every way you can, and that’s where our UVC LED covid killing fittings and units come in.

Uganda’s Ebola outbreak - Our UVC sterilisers kill Ebola

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 16:14:40 GMT

Here in the UK, covid is surging again. Over in Uganda they’ve introduced their first Ebola lockdown, a 21 day restricted period designed to cope with an ongoing outbreak of the virus.

In a world where governments seem to have forgotten about the risks to our health, wellbeing and finances, it makes sense to act to protect our own interests. Did you know our UVC steriliser units kill the Ebola virus just as effectively as they kill covid? It’s good to know when the world is at constant risk of entirely new viruses, and new variants and sub-variants of existing diseases.

Do you remember the Ebola case we had in the UK?
In late 2014 a Scottish aid worker returned home from Sierra Leone. She was diagnosed with Ebola after working at an Ebola treatment centre. She probably caught it because she wore a visor instead of goggles at work. Contact tracing took place for her fellow passengers on the flight. She became critically ill and was given intensive treatment. Eventually declared free of infection, she survived. It was a lesson to us all. And then came covid...

About Ebola
Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever. The symptoms begin two days and three weeks after being infected, usually kicking off with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash, damaged liver and kidney function then, in some people, external and internal bleeding. It kills 25% and 90% of patients, an average of 50%, and death usually happens 6-16 days after the first symptoms turn up.

Uganda’s Ebola outbreak
Uganda’s 21 day lockdown affects the Mubende and Kassanda districts. On 19th October the country’s Ministry of Health reported 60 confirmed cases and 24 confirmed deaths. A WHO report reveals much the same. The first Ebola death, on 19th September, was 24 year-old man from Mubende. Six members of his family later died of Ebola.
Like most viruses, including covid, the four different strains that create the common cold, and the flu virus, there’s more than one Ebola variant. In this case it’s the Sudan variant. Previous outbreaks killed anything from 41 – 100% of people who caught it.

No vaccine for the Sudan variant of Ebola
While there are two vaccines for the Zaire variant, the WHO said it doesn’t think one of the available vaccines will kill the Sudan variant and the other, from Johnson & Johnson, hasn’t been tested on humans yet. It’s also problematic since the second dose has to take place at least 56 days after the first one, so it’s not suitable as an ‘emergency response’ vaccine.

Five healthcare workers have died in the Uganda outbreak so far. PPE is in short supply. The situation could get worse in rural areas of Uganda where healthcare isn’t readily available. At the moment they’re tracing and isolating contacts of people who test positive. The contact tracers who have phones – and that isn’t all of them - don’t always have the money or mobile data to contact potentially-infected people. And poverty means it’s hard to tell people to stay home when their only income is from their work.

Are vaccines being developed for Sudan Ebola?
There are at least six different vaccines being developed against the Sudan variant of Ebola. One, which comes from the same team who developed the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid vaccine, is in production right now, lined up for a clinical trial and due to be sent to Uganda within the next couple of weeks. The USA has already sent an experimental Ebola antibody drug to help protect healthcare workers.

Protect everyone from Ebola, covid, flu, the common cold and much more
Our highly effective covid killing purification lights and mobile sterilisers are affordable. They’re cheap to run because they use LED bulbs. They kill covid, flu virus, common cold viruses, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and more, and they do it quickly and efficiently as well as safely.

When you want to carry on working, carry on producing, carry on manufacturing, carry on selling, this is the way to do it as covid sweeps the UK once more. Help protect your employees, keep staffing levels high, and create a competitive advantage.

Let’s just hope Ebola doesn’t make its way here again. If so, our purifiers will kill it. In the meantime, we’ll help you beat covid at your place this winter.

Expert slams the UK government’s poor pandemic preparation

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 10:00:00 GMT

Kate Bingham used to be the head of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce. She’s just slammed the UK government in a New Scientist article, claiming the government has ‘missed chances to maximise vaccine manufacturing capacity’ and has ‘no strategic plan for research that could help prevent another pandemic’.

Bingham is shocked by several of the government’s decisions. For a start they’ve stopped steering vaccine research and development to prioritise new technologies that could be strategically vital. The government has also missed opportunities to maximise UK manufacturing capacity. And while we do have more capacity than we used to, the facilities remain ‘inadequate’.

What qualifies her to be so critical? May 2020 saw Kate an unpaid, seven-month break from her job as a biotech venture capitalist to oversee the speedy development and purchase of millions of covid vaccine doses. If there’s anyone to thank to the nation’s initial fast vaccine response, it’s her.

By December 2020 the brilliant Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was being widely used and shortly after that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine arrived, rolled out to the vulnerable quickly and efficiently thanks to huge teams of volunteers and the NHS.

At the same time the task force Kate was overseeing was supposed to build permanent ‘pandemic resilience’, but it didn’t happen. While the UK still funds basic medical research that might deliver better covid vaccines - and vaccines against the next pandemic we will face - there’s ‘little central oversight or strategic planning’. While we do have more vaccine manufacturing opportunities here, it ‘can be hard for academics to get funding through the usual mechanisms of government grants’. In Kate’s words there’s ‘no coordination’.

There’s more. The UK government has also changed its mind about a deal it made to buy 100 million doses of covid vaccine from the French firm Valneva, which seems very odd when ‘positive final-stage clinical trial results were announced’ only a month later. The change of plan not only affected future jobs at the firm’s Scottish plant but also means we won’t, after all, benefit from diversified vaccine capabilities, leaving the UK less able to help low-income countries out with donated vaccines. And if we fail to help other countries beat covid, more variants and subvariants will have the chance to develop.

The sale of the UK’s Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, which helped develop the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, has also baffled experts. More worryingly, the government won’t say why it made the decision, and refused to talk to New Scientist journalists about the matter. Last but not least Kate Bingham’s worries extend to the government’s puzzling U-turn on plans to make the nation more appealing for clinical trials in future. What they’ve actually done is miss a one-time opportunity that won’t come again.

In the face of these let-downs, can business owners step into the howling gap and do something to help? Yes, you can. Our affordable UVC sterilisers make short, fast work of killing covid, stopping the spread. Fit them at your place and you’ll do your bit to keep the UK economy running. Get in touch if you’d like to know more or talk about the potential for UVC covid disinfection at your place.

New covid threat – Meet the extra-nasty XBB and BQ.1.1 variants

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 09:55:15 GMT

As reported by MSN and others, a brand new covid variant called XBB is on the loose and has already reached more than 17 countries. At the same time it is the best yet at beating the human immune system. Then there’s the BQ.1.1 variant, another new one that’s currently on the move in the EU and US. It’s apparently a close relative of XBB.

We’ve always taken a strictly science-led approach and while it’s no fun having to say ‘we told you so’, we’ve been talking about new variants since the pandemic began. Let’s take a look at the new subvariants and what they might mean to the UK.

About the covid XBB variant
So far XBB has reached Australia, Singapore, Denmark, Japan and many more places. The subvariant was initially found in India during August, and had made its way to Hong Kong by week 1 October 2022. There’s no doubt it’ll land here in the UK soon, if it hasn’t already. And as Amesh Adalja, a public-health expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said, it is likely to be the most immune-evasive subvariant yet.

Experts suspect XBB was probably behind the dramatic rise in Singapore covid cases from 4719 on 10th October to 11,732 the next day. Since then daily cases haven’t fallen below 9000 and XBB is now the most common subvariant in the Asia region, responsible for 54% of local cases from 3rd to 9th October. The expectation is XBB cases will peak during November, with around 15,000 cases a day by mid-November and as many as 25,000 on some days.

Meanwhile, as XBB spreads across Asia, its close relative BQ.1.1 is spreading in Europe and the US. It also has ‘extreme levels of immune evasion’ according to Dr Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. He also says two or more new variants could hit a country at the same time, complicating things even further. And worse still, those in the know are saying a ‘swarm’ of new variants could hit Europe and North America by the end of November.

Will our UVC covid killing sterilisers kill XBB and BQ.1.1?
In a word, yes. While both subvariants are capable of evading the human immune system more efficiently than previous ones, there’s no reason why UVC light at the wavelength we use won’t kill both of them stone dead, just like it does all the other variants.

On 14th October Kate Bingham, the former head of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, told the UK government they’d ‘missed chances’ to maximise vaccine manufacturing capacity. Worse still, they have no strategic plan for research that could help prevent another pandemic. So it looks like we’ll be going it alone.

In the face of government inaction, would you rather sit back and wait for a new variant to hit your business, affecting performance, sending your staff home to recover and potentially wrecking your bottom line? Or would you rather act now and keep your business, your employees, and the vulnerable people they love safe?

We think it’s a no-brainer. If you feel the same, let’s talk about killing covid at your place.

Be better prepared than the government – Kill covid like this...

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 08:00:00 GMT

According to an article in The Telegraph newspaper, the UK is ‘no better prepared for the next pandemic’ than it was the first one – which was entirely predictable – because the nation has such ‘dangerous gaps’ in health security.

So says an ex government advisor. In their view, and according to other government insiders and experts, the NHS simply won’t survive another deadly new virus. At the same time another pandemic is inevitable. It isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

The official UK Covid-19 inquiry begins shortly, with preliminary hearings looking into the nation’s pandemic preparedness and response. The country has done OK in some ways, things like developing vaccines and the excellent ONS surveillance programme. But it looks like so much key infrastructure has been either sold or taken apart that any level of government covid coordination will probably fall short.

Professor John Bell, regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and a member of the UK’s Covid vaccine task force during the pandemic, was one of the people who thought the pandemic gave the nation a unique opportunity to become better prepared for pandemics in future. That hasn’t happened. As he said, “Say we got a transmissible avian flu – or worse, a virus which carried a fatality rate of about 30 or 40 per cent. Would we be ready? I think the answer is absolutely not”. He also says the government “still hasn’t operationalised the response to pandemic threats”.

Healthcare experts are particularly disappointed in the government’s sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre this April. It used to be a £200-million government-funded centre to focus on vaccine manufacturing and research. Now it has been taken over by a private firm. Professor Rebecca Glover, assistant professor in infectious disease policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, isn’t the only one to label the sale short sighted. Others agree that taking vital parts of a country’s long-term preparedness infrastructures like the VMIC away makes no sense either economically or from a healthcare perspective. It just leaves the government even less able to handle new threats.

There’s more worry around the country’s ability to manufacture new drugs, especially antibody treatments. Health professionals are concerned about the facts there’s no relevant scientific or commercial expertise in government. And it is very troubling to see the NHS named as our Achilles heel.

Adam Bradshaw, a public health analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, sees health security as a matter of national security, and says funding cuts for the UK Health Security Agency are not helping. In his words, “Two years ago everyone was saying we’d never underinvest again… that promise has been broken.”

The first phase of the Covid inquiry will mostly be procedural, with public hearings on the cards for spring 2023. It’ll be interesting to see what falls out of the report regarding the nation’s Britain’s pandemic preparedness and response.

In business? Do your bit to help the nation fight covid this winter
As you can see, the experts think things are looking pretty bad. So can you do anything yourself, as a business owner or leader, to help stop covid spreading and surging through the winter?

Do your bit by fitting highly efficient and effective UVC covid killing units at your business premises. The fewer of us catch covid, the less it can spread and the easier it is to keep the NHS safe, vulnerable people safe, and the economy running. If that sounds good, let’s have a discussion about how to get our affordable, cheap-to-run units fitted in at your place.

UK hospitals under threat – How you can help stop covid spreading

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:23:08 GMT

The Guardian, amongst others, is reporting on the fact that this autumn and winter’s inevitable covid surge will place a ‘heavy straw on camel’s back’ for every hospital in the nation. Read on to find out what’s going on, and discover what you can do to help stop covid spreading so far and fast this winter.

How the state of the NHS doesn’t bode well for covid this winter
Our hospitals are already suffering, with plenty saying they’ll be unable to cope if there’s the expected winter covid surge, but it’s a long term thing. According to New Scientist magazine the NHS has lost 25,000 hospital beds since 2010, leaving us with fewer beds than 21 EU countries. The UK’s hospital staffing crisis also rumbles on, with NHS England alone short of 12,000 hospital doctors and over 50,000 nurses and midwives. To top it all off, a recent survey revealed just 27% of those working in the NHS felt there are enough people in the service to do a good job. And one in nine nurses are currently leaving the NHS, a surge of a different kind that’s only making things worse.

Covid hospitalisations have just risen by 37% in a week, and health leaders are clamouring for the government to bring back mask-wearing. Last week at least eight hospitals declared a ‘critical incident’, signalling they can’t cope with any more patients. The Office for National Statistics says it’s too early to say if an autumn Covid wave has begun, but experts are already demanding the government fix the NHS staffing shortages they’ve brought about as fast as possible. Sadly even if they do that, and do it fast, it’ll be like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

As Dr Adrian Boyle, the newpresident of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told the Observer newspaper, “Our system is under-resourced. We don’t have enough beds, and we don’t have the workforce for the demand that we’re being asked to deal with. Covid just makes everything that much harder and it’s entirely valid to link this with critical incidents being called around the country. All hospitals are feeling significant levels of pressure at the moment. Covid is a very heavy straw on the camel’s back.”

The first signs of a fresh covid boom hit the West Country, with NHS Devon warning people about long waiting times. Unless it’s life-threatening, there’s not much point turning up at an A&E in the region. There are similar worries in the Midlands and the north. Add the potential for a ‘twindemic’ of flu and covid, which we mentioned in a recent article, and the outlook is grim.

Dr Veena Raleigh, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, says covid is now the sixth leading cause of death, with more than 300 people dying each week. In her words, “Although it is early days, this rise in cases is consistent with what’s been expected as winter approaches. Acting now to prevent further hospitalisations and deaths is crucial.” She’s just one of a growing number of health professionals expressing serious concerns, but so far it doesn’t look like the government is listening. So can we take things into our own hands? As a business leader, yes you can.

What you can do to help stop the spread of covid this winter
As a business owner, there’s something you can do to help stop covid spreading so far and fast this winter. And it’s a simple yet incredibly effective thing.

While there’s nothing any of us can do about the long term staffing and funding deficits in the NHS and social care services we’ve suffered since 2010, you can keep your employees, customers, visitors, suppliers and anyone else visiting your premises safe from covid using our affordable, cheap to run and highly effective covid-killing UVC units. The technology is safe, clean, and kills covid more efficiently than a full team of human cleaners working 24/7/365 could ever hope to achieve.

If you’d like to do your bit for the UK and the NHS, let’s talk about fitting covid killing UVC tech at your place.

Covid news UK - And how to kill the virus stone dead!

Sat, 08 Oct 2022 12:45:00 GMT

Last week we took a look at some worrying numbers. Covid could be on the up again in the UK, particularly in England. At the same time, if you’re in town shopping, you’ll notice almost everyone is going mask-free, including elderly people. It isn’t a good combination. So let’s look at how things stand this week, and see if there are any reliable predictions to take note of.

One thing is clear – it is getting harder to find the latest daily covid stats online since they’re not being widely reported any more. That says a lot! At the same time the ONS says it’s too early to know whether or not increasing cases means there’s a surge on the way. Right now the UK as a whole has seen a week-on-week increase of 14%.

Covid in England - October 2022

40,650 people in England have tested positive for covid in the week up to and including 24th September, the latest data – Up 42%
Covid deaths have dropped to 339 in the same period, down 2.3%
5930 people have been admitted to hospital with covid, up 47.7%
Testing is up just over 12%, revealing people are concerned

Covid in Wales – October 2022

Covid infections in Wales during the week ending 20th September had risen for the second week running, more than doubling in a fortnight

Covid in Scotland and Northern Ireland – October 2022

The trend is ‘uncertain’ in Scotland and Northern Ireland

The ONS says covid is infecting...

1 in 65 people in England (up from one in 70)
1 in 50 people in Wales (up from one in 75)
1 in 80 in Northern Ireland (the same as the week before)
1 in 45 in Scotland (up from one in 55)

How to kill covid - How our covid killing mobile sterilisers work
Our high intensity UV lighting disinfects indoor spaces by killing all sorts of pathogens, an exciting breakthrough in anti-viral protection offering disinfection to high clinical levels. Our technology uses powerful, broad-spectrum light high in germicidal UV-C LED light. The result is reliable virus-killing efficiency. Take our most powerful UVC LED mobile machine, the 600watt Silent Guardian. It’ll sanitise a hotel room or dentist’s surgery in minutes, saving lives and keeping employees at work.

Independent clinical SGS testing proves our machines kill viruses, bacteria, and fungal pathogens quickly and safely. In fact they kill at least 99.9% of Norovirus, C. diff, E. coli, Salmonella, MRSA, C. auris, covid, SARS, influenza, Ebola and more. The UV light they emit gets everywhere, into every corner, keeping everyone in the building safe from disease.

If that sounds good, it is. Wise businesses are preparing for the worst. How about you?

UK covid is rising – Your school needs UVC covid killer tech

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 12:45:00 GMT

On 24th August reports revealed hospitals in England were about to stop routine covid testing. On 12th September we saw UK covid infections at their lowest since October 2021. Now the Office for National Statistics says covid infection rates have increased in the UK for the first time since the middle of July.
Here we go again... or do we? Let’s take a look.

Secondary school children lead the way in the latest covid increase
1 in 70 school kids tested positive for covid in the week leading up to 14th September. Covid cases have risen in England and Wales, but they fell in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Office for National Statistics is closely monitoring the data.

On the down-side, infections rose 5% in the survey. On the up-side, the total number of people testing positive remains close to the lowest point for the whole year. The research estimates around 927,000 of us have probably tested positive in the latest week we have data for, up from an estimated 881,200 the week before.

London, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, the Humber and north-east England all saw covid rates rise, while cases across the South East continued to fall. English secondary schools saw the biggest rises, along with people aged 25 to 34. The data didn’t show a trend of any kind for other age groups.

This is the first increase in UK infections since mid-July 2022
It’s good to know infection rates remain lower than the spikes we saw from Omicron and its BA.4 and .5 variants. But at the same time there’s been a rise in people being hospitalised with covid in England, with 4,015 of us admitted in the week ending 19th September, a rise of 17% on the week before. The autumn booster campaign is about to kick off, giving extra protection to millions of the most vulnerable.

UK estimated covid rates by country

1 in 70 people have covid in England at the moment, up from 1 in 75 the week before
1 in 75 have it in Wales, up from 1 in 110
1 in 80 have it in Northern Ireland, down from 1 in 55
1 in 55 have it in Scotland, down from 1 in 45

The result is a ‘mixed picture’ across the UK. Experts say it’s too early to figure out what’ll happen next, but they’re monitoring things closely, especially in schools.

Protect pupils and everyone else at school from covid
You can protect your pupils and everyone else at school by killing covid in minutes, safely and efficiently. You’ll have fewer absences in teaching and support staff, fewer pupil absences, and a much lower risk of spreading the virus far and wide, out into the wider community and beyond.

All it takes is a very specific wavelength of UVC light, emitted by an array of LED bulbs that cost very little to run. Our mobile units and fixed sterilisers are easy to fit, and there’s more or less no maintenance. So you can simply switch on... and relax.

How bad will winter 2022 covid and flu surges be?

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 12:41:23 GMT

As winter approaches, covid is back on the menu. The flu season is also approaching and there are worries about how serious this year’s impact will be. Australia has just seen a boom in flu cases this time around - will we see the same in the southern hemisphere? Read on to see what’s happening with covid and flu as we descend into winter 2022.

Australia has had a terrible flu season – Will we see the same?
The 2022 Aussie flu season was a nightmare. Experts predict this doesn’t bode well for the USA, which is about to enter its own flu season, as is the UK.

Flu usually causes between 140,000 to 710,000 hospitalisations worldwide, and as many as 52,000 deaths. Covid squashed flu flat, with comparatively few cases during 2020 and 2021. But spring 2022 saw the annual flu surge flu arrive early in Australia, and other countries in the Southern Hemisphere experienced the same. It was a particularly bad one. Will we suffer a similar experience over here?

Because covid has always been so poorly controlled in the USA, the seasonal flu outlook over there is dire, as are predictions about the US winter covid spike. If covid and flu spike at the same time, things could get nasty.

Australia’s flu experience for 2022
The flu season Down Under was very busy indeed. At 14th August there were 216,725 lab-confirmed flu cases, a lot more than previous years. Lab-confirmed cases usually represent the tip of the iceberg, and because some people don’t even know they’ve got the flu, being silent carriers, things could actually be a lot worse.

So far Australia has seen 273 influenza-associated deaths. Since April 2022 there have been 1666 flu-related hospital admissions, 6.4% directly to intensive care. The numbers come from a handful of ‘sentinel’ hospitals that collect the data, so the true number will be higher.

There’s another potential problem. Knowing which flu strains are circulating in the southern hemisphere drives the vaccines we make for the northern hemisphere. So far nobody knows whether this season’s vaccines will be a good enough match. It’s too early to tell, but fingers crossed they will be. Add the inevitable threat of an autumn covid wave and you can see why people are worried. Will we have a ‘twindemic’ of covid and flu?

How mask wearing and distancing kept flu at bay in 2020 and 21
Mask wearing and social distancing helped keep flu at bay during the covid pandemic. Reduced travel and other covid precautions also helped. That’s why we haven’t seen a winter twindemic so far, according to the USA’s CDC. This winter is different. Most people aren’t wearing masks. Other covid precautions have mostly disappeared. And every time precautions have been relaxed, wherever you are in the world, covid has surged afterwards. There’s no good reason why it won’t happen again.

You really don’t want to get covid and flu at the same time, giving your immune system twice the fight. The NHS is predicted to suffer shortages of staff and resources during the coming surge, if it happens. What goes on in your body if you think you’ve got flu but it’s actually covid? Or the other way around? They can be pretty similar. You can understand how risky the situation is at the moment.

Prepare for surges with our covid-killer and flu-killing tech
It’s important to prepare ourselves for the next potential covid surge - and for a worse-than-usual flu season. Experts say we need to bring back masks and distancing, and start vaccinating the vulnerable asap. Your business can do its bit by protecting people against flu and covid. Our covid killing, flu destroying fixtures and fittings are low cost, cheap to run thanks to LED bulbs, and do an excellent job of destroying the DNA and RNA of covid and flu.

If you’d like to do the decent thing and protect your employees and customers from both diseases, which also means you protect your bottom line better, give us a call and we’ll help you make it so.

Omicron flu protection, early onset puberty risk, mask innovations

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 12:39:53 GMT

In a week when UK covid cases are rising again for the first time since mid-July, there’s some intriguing news about the virus that has changed our world. Can the omicron variant help protect against flu? Is the virus responsible for a rise in early puberty in girls? Read on to find out. There’ also a ‘smart’ face mask being tested, designed for the wearer to detect coronavirus on other people’s breath. Here’s the covid news.

Does a dose of omicron protect you against the flu?
According to lab studies there’s a possibility that the omicron variant might protect people against flu. It looks like the H1N1 seasonal flu virus didn't manage to get a grip on bronchial cells containing the omicron variant, but did reproduce in cells containing the delta variant.

A team at the University of Kent carried out the work, measuring H1N1 flu levels in control cells and those infected with delta. They also discovered cells containing the omicron subvariants produced a protective immune response called the interferon response, known to stop flu viruses replicating so much.

Is covid linked to early-onset puberty in girls?
It’s another covid mystery. A number of studies reveal there might be a link between the virus and girls starting puberty early, something that has more than doubled during the pandemic. So far, nobody knows why.

The number of girls with early puberty at just one German medical centre remained the same at fewer than 10 a year from 2015-2019. The number shot up to 23 in 2020 and to 30 in 2021. They’ve seen the same in California, USA, where pre-covid cases numbering 28 shot up to 64 cases post-covid. Studies in Italy and Turkey have revealed the same pattern.

Early puberty is usually rare, affecting one in five to ten thousand children and ten times more likely in girls than boys. The reason has never been pinned down. The condition can lead to a person being unusually short, suffer heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, plus anxiety in boys, and depression in girls. Some scientists also suspect that the average age of onset might also have dropped.

The German study saw pre-pandemic early puberty onset usually happening at around aged 7.6, compared with 6.8 of children diagnosed during covid. Statistical analyses hint it isn’t an accidental result. But why’s it happening?

For a start, stress can cause earlier puberty. As can a rapid gain in a child’s weight, something that could potentially happen thanks to lockdowns and restrictions. But the children studied hadn’t put on any more weight than average. Spending more time on screens and disturbed sleep could also be having an impact. One Italian study revealed girls diagnosed with early onset puberty during lockdown suffered more disturbed sleep and had later bedtimes than girls diagnosed with the condition before covid kicked off.

At the same time experts doubt it has anything to do with the girls actually catching covid, since children have been less vulnerable to covid all along. The hope is that going back to school will help children adapt better to ‘pandemic-related challenges’ like early puberty. The research continues.

A smart face mask that can tell you if someone else has covid
Face masks help protect the wearer and those around them from covid. Now a smart face mask is being developed to detect covid on other people’s breath thanks to a clever sensor in the valve.

The prototype N95 mask is very sensitive to virus proteins, and although ongoing tests are required it seems to be able to pinpoint ‘tiny amounts’ of the virus after a ten minute chat with an infected person. Once that happens the mask sends a signal to the wearer’s smartphone, so they can remove themselves from danger. If there’s no danger they can take the mask off and have a safe conversation. The work is at the early stages and hasn’t been fully tested, but it’s an exciting idea.

We keep an eye on covid so you know what’s what
Keep coming back for the latest news about covid from around the world. And know, for sure, that whatever happens out there our reliable, affordable, low-running-cost LED UVC tech kills covid and other pathogens in no time, leaving the surfaces infection-free and the air at your place safe to breathe.

If you’d like to know more about giving your business a competitive edge and keeping everyone who encounters it safe from infection, get in touch.

University College London and Kings College London covid predictions

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

What’s going to happen in future as the newest covid subvariants BA4 and BA5 continue to roll their way around the world? The Dynamic Causal Modelling carried out by University College London reveals fresh peaks on the way. Are you ready? If not, did you know you can make your business covid peak-ready in a powerful and affordable way?

Covid peaks due in November 2022 and March 2023

The next covid peak is expected in late November 2022 with a subsequent peak in mid March 2023.
The 7 day average of daily certified deaths might peak at around 200 people a day in December 2022
The basic reproduction number R0 is estimated to be 5.86, a 36% increase in transmission risk relative to the average since 1st February 2020. This estimate includes viral mutations and seasonal effects, and will increase as winter approaches
The average time between exposure and becoming infectious is 2.7 days

King’s College London’s Long Covid predictions
At the same time, King’s College London has been studying Long Covid, and they’ve pinned down a prediction around whether you’ll develop ongoing covid symptoms. The work hasn’t been peer reviewed yet, but it’s worth looking at all the same.

The study analysed data from 4,182 people who tested positive for the virus and had been logging their symptoms online in the COVID Symptom Study app. The team found that people experiencing more than five different symptoms during the first week of their illness were most likely to experience long covid symptoms, specifically those lasting more than 28 days.

When will covid end?
The short answer is it won’t, at least not any time soon. One article reveals what various experts say. Some believe the virus has settled into a two-month wave cycle, described as both ‘disappointing’ and ‘discouraging’ . There are predictions around the virus slowly becoming less severe and less transmissible over time, but others are very worried about the ongoing potential for a really nasty mutation.

The optimistic view is that new variants will keep emerging, and will evade our immune systems ‘to some degree but not fully’. On another positive note, some hope it’ll take another 2-4 years for the virus to become more of a nuisance than a life threatening disease. Let’s hope they’re right.

In the meantime kill covid with UCV light
Our tech kills covid by wrecking its DNA and RNA in no time. You can clean a room in minutes and keep the air safe using proven UVC technology even while humans are in the space, without any threat to people’s health. It’s a brilliant way to grab a competitive advantage over business that care less about keeping people safe on the premises. It might even help you attract and keep the best staff. Start your journey here, and give us a call any time you like.

How to protect people at risk from covid?

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:23:51 GMT

According to the WHO, the UK has seen 23,585,309 confirmed cases of covid since the pandemic kicked off. In the 7 days up to and including 10th September there were 24,845 new cases in England and 327 deaths, and 3,434 people were admitted to hospital with covid.

As you can see the pandemic hasn’t gone away. If you happen to be in a vulnerable group, whether because of your age or a medical condition, you’ll probably still be feeling wary of your fellow humans.
This is the covid ‘at risk’ list from the NHS website

These people are more at risk than average from covid. Luckily it’s easy to make your business safer for them.

Aged 60 or over
Pregnant
Not vaccinated
Down's syndrome
Certain types of cancer (such as a blood cancer like leukaemia or lymphoma)
Sickle cell disease
Certain conditions affecting your blood
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 or 5
Severe liver disease
Had an organ or bone marrow transplant
Certain autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease)
HIV or AIDS and have a weakened immune system
A condition affecting your immune system
A rare condition affecting the brain or nerves (multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease or myasthenia gravis)
A severe problem with the brain or nerves, such as cerebral palsy
Severe or multiple learning disabilities (or you're on the learning disability register)
A weakened immune system due to a medical treatment (such as steroid medicine, biological therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy)

There’s some good news. Cases of Long Covid are starting to drop, potentially because so many of us are vaccinated. On the down-side there are reports about a new covid symptom affecting sleep, not good when sleep quality has such a dramatic effect on our health and well-being - dramatic night sweats.

As reported in The Independent on 20th September 2022 the highly contagious BA.5 Omicron subvariant is currently causing a new wave across the world, including the UK. It’s different from previous strains because it can easily reinfect people within a few weeks of catching a previous variant. The virus has changed to cause a slightly different disease. Night sweats might be a new symptom to look out for.

You still need to keep people safe. So how do you protect your customers, visitors, suppliers and employees safe from covid?

Simple. You fit your premises with our LED UVC covid killing tech, in the form of lights and other handy units. The different models suit all sorts of different circumstances. They’re affordable in the first place and cost next to nothing to run thanks to the LED bulbs used to generate the UV light.

The specific wavelength of the UV rays generated kills covid in no time, also killing a load more very nasty pathogens. The technology is simple, safe, clean and easy, and you don’t need to buy chemicals or hire cleaning staff. It’s a reliable way to keep everyone safe whatever their health, age and circumstances, is easy to fit, and works hard to kill pathogens on surfaces and in the air.

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Learning lessons from covid – Let’s stop Monkeypox getting out of hand

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 10:30:00 GMT

On 25 ^th July 2022 the WHO declared Monkeypox a global health emergency. On 27 ^th July there were reports into widespread early Monkeypox failings, revealing how the world hasn’t learned the lessons we should have learned from the covid pandemic.

On 4th August the science community announced that vaccinating fewer than 50% of at-risk men would stop Monkeypox spreading. Is it happening? Not yet. On the one hand, as the UK government’s website says, ‘There is currently no vaccine licensed in the UK or Europe for immunisation against Monkeypox.’ On the other hand we already know the Smallpox vaccine does the job.

On 12 ^th September we saw reports of an ‘alarming’ number of new Monkeypox cases in Australia, where it’s spreading quickly. There are 40 cases in Victoria alone, all ‘locally acquired’. The New York Times reports on treatments and tests being unavailable in much of the world, and California has reported the second possible US Monkeypox death in LA County.

Apparently early diagnosis is key to tackling the symptoms, which can be serious. Some people have suffered from myocarditis as a result of Monkeypox and experts are beginning to realise it may also cause ‘serious’ neurological damage, including inflammation of the brain, which can trigger seizures.

Lagos has seen 21 new Monkeypox cases in one week. Jordan has just reported its first case, and so has Guam, where it was brought in via an incoming traveller. Egypt has reported its first Monkeypox case, a man who has a residence in Europe. And more than 30 children have tested positive for it in the USA, which already has more than 21,500 confirmed cases. There are 12 cases in Delhi so far.

I n the USA they’ve begun test trials of Siga’s antiviral treatment for the disease, and they’re considering extending the vaccine to men with HIV. Spain’s Health Minister has been talking to the WHO about the threat. In Maryland, USA, they’re carrying out clinical trials to evaluate a Monkeypox vaccine. And now, a second Monkeypox strain linked with travel to West Africa has turned up here in the UK.

So far, the government is reporting on cases up to 22 ^nd August 2022:

3,207 confirmed cases plus 133 highly probable cases – total 3340
78 in Scotland
27 in Northern Ireland
44 in Wales
3,191 in England

Will the UK vaccinate at-risk peo ple against Monkeypox? As the government website says, “The Health Security Agency is testing and confirming suspected cases, tracing contacts and issuing urgent advice in the clinical management of cases and contacts. In addition, UKHSA has been working closely with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the role of vaccine to prevent further cases and limit ongoing spread”.

Our UVC LED lights and sanitising units kill Covid, Ebola, MERS, SARS and many more health threats quickly and safely. They’re affordable to buy, and cheap to run thanks to LED bulbs. They give you a reliable way to keep people safe from disease on your premises .

Long covid special – This is what our covid sterilisers protect you from

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 10:16:48 GMT

Two out of three people remain infectious after 5 days of covid, bringing the official self-isolation advice under question. As many as 50% of us might not even realise we’re carrying the Omicron variant. And while an ordinary case of flu can leave people with a bigger risk of neurological or psychiatric condition up to two years after recovery, the risks are even higher with covid. At the same time one in eight of us in the UK ended up with long covid early in the pandemic, and the condition has lasted more than a year for 376,000 of us.

This is what our lights and sterilisers protect you, your employees, the public, your suppliers and visitors from.

As we get more insight from the scientific community into long covid, it’s becoming even more obvious that everyone needs to do their bit to protect themselves and others from what can be a life-changing condition. Read on to find out the latest information about long covid, provided by a series of articles in New Scientist magazine and Google news. Welcome to our Long Covid special.

What’s going on with long covid?

The World Health Organization defines long covid as an illness that usually happens within three months of the onset of covid, whose symptoms – which can’t be explained any other way - last at least 8 weeks. They say it involves at least one symptom that has increased to moderate severity three to five months after developing covid. The most common long covid symptoms are a loss of smell and taste, painful muscles, and general severe tiredness. Chronic tiredness is the most common of all.

12.5% of adults with a covid infection in the early stages of the pandemic ended up with long covid, according to a survey in the Netherlands. They also found long covid symptoms take longer to die away in women than men, potentially because women can ‘face greater barriers to healthcare and so seek out help for symptoms later’.

Chronic fatigue already affected almost 1% of the world’s population but many think it could now be an underestimate thanks to long covid. So do we know any more about it?

Scientists are looking into whether long covid is down to issues with the blood itself, leading to hyperbaric oxygen therapy being tested to alleviate the symptoms. Early results are hopeful, revealing the treatment may be able to reduce brain fog, pain, and fatigue.

Other scientists are looking into inflammation as the cause for exhaustion, it being the body’s first line of defence against injuries and infections, releasing proteins called cytokines to prime the immune system for action. They evolved to force the body to relax when healing itself, which is why their release makes us feel so exhausted, heavy, and unable to move. An activated immune system takes up a tremendous amount of energy. In an ideal world the inflammation and fatigue fall away once you’re no longer infected. But when the inflammation becomes chronic, you can find yourself suffering in the long term.

What about the UK’s mysterious 22,500 ‘excess deaths’?

The UK has experienced 22,500 more deaths than usual, something that has hit the headlines, so does long covid have anything to do with it? There’s a range of possible reasons, and the most obvious reason is covid.

There were twice as many covid deaths this summer than there were in summer 2021 but that still leaves an extra 9,500 or so excess deaths unaccounted for. Experts say covid could be behind most of these deaths, simply because there have been so many covid cases. In early June 2022, for example, 990,000 of us had covid, mainly the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron sub-variants. By early August 2022 it was more than 1.7 million. And we already know a case of covid puts you at more risk of dying from other conditions, leading one scientist to say, “It's highly likely that covid would be implicated to some extent.”

Covid also disrupted the NHS, and while it isn’t yet clear whether the mysterious rise in deaths is related, it could have delayed treatment for medical conditions like cancer, diabetes and heart problems. When cancer screening effectively stopped for a few months during lockdown and beyond, many people’s tests and treatments were delayed. There’s no doubt we’ll see knock-on effects, but the scale of them isn’t yet known.

We’ll leave the last word to Azeem Majeed at Imperial College London. As he said, “It is important the government investigates this issue, particularly the question of whether delays in treatment are contributing to excess deaths.”

Covid hasn’t gone away, long covid can be a nightmare

We don’t see covid case numbers or deaths on TV any more. But covid is still well and truly with us and many of us remain at risk of long covid, which can leave us unable to work or function properly for months, often more than a year, sometimes longer. But we can help stop the spread, protect people, and help keep the UK afloat as things nosedive into a horrendous recession.

Our lights and sterilisers work hard to kill covid and loads more pathogens in no time. They run on LED bulbs so use very little energy. They’ll keep your premises safe and clean for people – and we’re worth it!

Mysterious new pathogens – Will they drive the next pandemic?

Sat, 10 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT

The human race has become extra-sensitive to new viral threats thanks to covid, which has taught us a vital lesson: we can’t afford to be complacent about new diseases, whatever their origin, and when one pops up we have to act fast. Let’s take a look at two new viral threats plus the latest on the ongoing covid pandemic – which isn’t over yet.

Argentinia – Three killed by a pneumonia of unknown origin

Three people have died from a new kind of pneumonia in Argentina, a virus of unknown origin. The mystery respiratory illness has affected nine people in north west Tucuman, eight of whom are medical staff at the same private clinic. Three have died so far.

The illness leads to a severe respiratory condition with bilateral pneumonia, and while it’s very similar to covid, it isn’t. The third victim was a 70 year old woman admitted to the clinic for an operation, and she might turn out to be Patient Zero. Of the remaining three cases, two are still in hospital and the other is being cared for at home.

The provincial Health Minister Luis Medina said the authorities have already ruled out flu and covid. Tests are continuing at the Malbran Institute in Buenos Aires.

China - The latest on Langya virus

More than 36 infections mean scientists are scrabbling to pin down the way Langya – also called LayV - jumps from animals to people. It’s already clear that’s how it spreads since all the patients involved had close contact with animals in eastern China. So far they’re mainly farmers.

The symptoms inclu de fatigue, cough, loss of appetite, aching, blood cell abnormalities, and some signs of damage to the liver and kidneys.

Being from same family as the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses, a 2018 outbreak of the same disease in Kerala, India, led to 17 of the 19 people infected dying. The Indian government put Ebola protocols in place to prevent the spread, revealing just how dangerous it is. So far all the Chinese patients have survived, bringing questions about the severity of this particular version of the illness. It also looks like human to human infection might be ‘sporadic’, not as infectious as covid.

As we mentioned last week LayV has been detected in shrews, which are already known to carry similar henipaviruses. Researchers in Australia, Beijing and Singapore are working hard to find out more. The Centres for Disease Control in Taiwan said it will be screening for the virus using the tracking systems in place for covid to detect it and other new pathogens.

Tomato flu in Kerala and the UK affects children

Tomato flu is affecting children in Kerala, India, and two brought it home to the UK with them. Luckily, while not a lot is known about it, Tomato flu isn’t a new virus. It has been around for ‘centuries’ and isn’t serious. The cause is coxsackievirus, which gives people the hand, foot and mouth disease that’s also called Tomato flu. A letter about it in the medical journal The Lancet has been slammed for trying to ‘paint an alarming picture and sensationalize the issue’.

The UK covid situation at September 5th 2022

The latest government figures reveal just under 25,0 00 people caught covid in England during the week ending 26th August 2022, down almost 20% on the week before. 419 people died within 28 days of a covid diagnosis in the same period, down just over 38%.

Across the world as a whole there have been 610,454,506 cases and 6,504,139 deaths. More than 188,000 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive test, but more than 203,000 have covid on their death certificates.

The UK’s vaccination programme has reached 90% of people aged 12 and over with a first dose, and there will be booster jabs on offer to the most vulnerable during winter.

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Danger - A new animal-origin Henipavirus is spreading in China

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 07:00:10 GMT

Global Times reports on a sinister new zoonotic disease in China that originates in shrews. Langya henipavirus was first spotted in 2018. Since then it has infected 35 p eople, and North Korea has just gone on ‘high alert’ as a result, fearing another pandemic.

The virus was first found in China's Shandong and Henan areas, discovered in throat swab samples taken from feverish patients in eastern China who’d had a recent close contact with wild animals. The experts who carried out the research say the symptoms of the new viral disease include fever, fatigue, cough, anorexia, headache, nausea, and vomiting, all suffered by 26 out of the 35 patients.

This is a biosafety level 4 virus with a 40-75% fatality rate

Zoonosis means an infectious disease that jumps from animals to humans. Henipavirus is one of the most worrying emerging causes of zoonosis in the Asia-Pacific region. The Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV) come from the same genus, both originating in fruit bats. Henipavirusis known to cause severe illness in animals and humans, classified as ‘biosafety Level 4’ viruses with horribly high fatality rates of 40% to 75%, according to the World Health Organization. It’s a lot higher than the covid fatality rate, and there’s no vaccine and no treatment. All medics can do is manage your symptoms.

No need to panic... yet

So far the Langya henipavirus cases in China haven’t been that serious. Nobody has died. But experts say there’s cause for concern since so many viruses have totally unpredictable results when they infect humans. It’s also good to know there hasn’t been any proven human-to-human transmission of the virus yet, although some reports suggest it can spread from person to person.

As Wang Xinyu, Deputy Chief Physician at the department of Infectious Diseases of Huashan Hospital said, "Coronavirus will not be the last infectious disease to cause a pandemic worldwide, as new infectious diseases will have an increasingly greater impact on human daily life. It is important to stress that the scope of this type of disease should not be limited to human diseases, but should be looked at in a larger context.” In other words, the human race must sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems, or nasty new viruses will just keep on coming.

The zoonotic virus risk

70% of the world’s emerging infectious diseases have probably passed to people via contact with animals. As the human population grows, the risk increases. Take China, which has suffered outbreaks of SARS in 2002-2003 as well as covid, both probably originating in bats. So far covid has killed over 6.4 million of us. No wonder it’s so important to identify novel viruses quickly, and share the information about potential risks immediately and widely.

Scientists say more work is needed to understand the Langya virus, which might already have found its way outside China. There are key questions around just how widespread the new virus is in nature, how it’s getting into people, and exactly how dangerous it is. We don’t even know whether it can continue to jump from animals to humans.

So far the geographical spread of the new virus suggests the infection risk is ‘rather widespread’, according to the virologist Malik Peiris from the University of Hong Kong. As you can imagine it’s vitally important to pin down the virus’s geographical range in humans, and in the shrews it comes from.

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Monkeypox fears rise as we see more cases outside London

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 14:29:50 GMT

As reported by the Independent , in early August the fight against the Monkeypox virus outbreak was happening too slowly. Cases had started to rise outside the capital, m eaning the disease was spreading, and The Terrence Higgins Trust was becoming very concerned. Let’s take a look at what was happening and how the story has developed since then.

What is Monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a zoonotic infection caused by the Monkeypox virus. Previously it was mostly found in West and Central Africa, with UK cases usually imported from countries where Monkeypox is endemic, or through contact with documented cases.

Between 2018 and 2021 there were just 7 UK cases, four of which had been imported, 2 from household contacts, and one a health care worker caring for a person with an imported case. And before now, community transmission was unheard of. Through August, UK cases have been spiking outside London.

The Terrence Higgins Trust expresses concern at the UK’s slow response

The Terrence Higgins Trust has been involved in coordinating the UK’s response. Four weeks a go they warned how “time is slipping away quite quickly” to limit the outbreak to the capital. Brighton and Manchester were already hot spots, and more break-outs were predicted.

A total of 2,759 infections were detected in the UK, the majority in London. But cases in the South East tripled from 91 to 233 between 6 ^th July and 1st August, a sharp leap. Up in the North West, cases shot up from 71 to 144.

As Ceri Smith, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, s a id, “If the Monkeypox outbreak continues at the kind of pace that we’re seeing and especially if it starts to affect other cities – we are beginning to see potentially an increase in places like Brighton and Manchester – we’re quite worried we’ll then start to see a knock-on impact on sexual health services that are more geographically dispersed.”

More experts give their opinions on Monkeypox

The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV is also aware of the increase in cases, but says most cases were still in London. At the same time an advisor to the World Health Organisation hints it’s only a matter of time before the UK sees a Monkeypox death, since we’re already seeing fatalities in Spain and India. But it isn’t always easy to attribute deaths to the virus because people die weeks after catching Monkeypox, not straight away.

As the number of cases increases, experts expect to see more deaths – plus “a higher death rate than we’ve got at the moment.”And while the outbreak so far has mostly affected gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men, anyone can catch it.

Monkeypox goes international

The UK’s Monkeypox vaccination programme rollout is being sped up and extended in London. The government has bought another 100,000 doses of the Imvanex jab, usually used for Smallpox but equally effective against Monkeypox because the viruses are so closely related.

So far over 16,000 cases of Monkeypox have now been reported in 75 countries, with a total of five deaths. That was on 8th August. By 16th August case numbers here had increased even more with 3081 confirmed cases and 114 highly probable cases in the UK alone, 3050 of which were in England.

Do our UV anti-viral lights kill Monkeypox?

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How covid enters the brain, avoiding BA.4 and 5, attracting the best talent

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 11:00:11 GMT

New research shows how covid might enter the brain by stimulating the growth of miniature tunnels leading from the cells in the nose to brain cells, which the virus can travel through. The finding may have clarified a mystery that’s been puzzling scientists since covid first turned up in 2019.

Covid is famous for brain fog and confusion as well as a host of other neurological symptoms. But previous research hinted the ACE2 receptor the virus usually uses to get into human cells is only just detectable in the brain, much less so than the cells in the mouth, nose and lungs. Now a team in France has pinned down a ‘sneaky’ way for the virus to get into the cells that don’t have the ACE2 cells, travelling via ACE2 receptor cells that do.

Using an extremely powerful electron microscope, the virus was spotted entering model nose cells, then stimulating them to grow tiny ‘tunnelling nanotubes’ that connect with brain cells. This means the virus is transferred from one cell to another, bypassing ACE2 receptors. While more studies are needed to confirm the same mechanism happens inside the brain, it’s an eye-opener.

If these tunnelling nanotubes really do transport covid from the nose to the brain, it could be possible to make drugs to block the tunnels. One team is already hunting for specific tunnelling nanotube-blocking molecules.

Can you do anything to avoid covid BA.4 and .5 variants?

All covid variants pose risk of serious illness or complications like long covid, which is why protection matters. Covid is still well worth avoiding, even though so many people are not taking any precautions against catching covid these days. Research shows catching covid multiple times leaves people at twice more risk of dying from any cause, and three times as likely to be hospitalised in the following six months, than those who have only had covid once

The BA.5 and .5 omicron subvariants are more transmissible and better at avoiding our immune systems than previous variants. They’re creating huge waves in many countries, mostly thanks to the mutations that let them swerve our immune defences. Covid is affecting more vaccinated people, and infecting more people who’ve already been infected very recently.

So what can you do to avoid these ultra-infectious variants? This is what the experts recommend:

V accination remains the best way to reduce your risk of infection and severe disease. Antibodies from vaccinated people who have already had covid are five times more effective against BA.5 than antibodies from unvaccinated people. Even if you’ve been infected with omicron, get vaccinated
Socialising outdoors reduces BA.4 and .5 infection. While meeting outdoors is considerably riskier than it was with previous variants, it’s still a lot safer than meeting indoors
Masking still works to reduce the infection risk – but because BA.5 in particular is so infectious, it could sneak around your mask and infect people anyway. You might want to upgrade your mask to N95 standard

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WHO labels Monkeypox a global public health emergency

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 11:00:01 GMT

On 27 ^th September 2018 New Scientist magazine announced Monkeypox had reached the UK, with three people catching the smallpox-related virus in the UK for the first time. In mid May 2022 the magazine focused on the symptoms and how serious they are. In the same week they asked if it could become the next pandemic.

In late May New Scientist reported on cases increasing around the world. On 24 ^th June they looked into how the global Monkeypox surge might be controlled. Now we’re in the midst of the biggest ever outbreak, the WHO has labelled it a global public health emergency, and they’re collaborating with the world’s health authorities to prevent it spreading any further.

Let’s take a look at the latest from Monkeypox, a virus that has made its way from Africa around the world in ways we still don’t understand.

Monkeypox has turned up in countries where it isn’t endemic

Early May this year saw cases of Monkeypox being reported even in nations where it isn’t endemic. Endemic nations were also reporting surges of the virus. Now we’re in the middle of the biggest ever outbreak.

Most confirmed cases that can be laid at the feet of international travel involve journeys to and from Europe and North America, rather than the virus’s usual West and Central African home. This is the first time the world has seen so many cases at once in non-endemic and endemic countries, and the sheer spread of the geographical area it has reached is unusual. So far Monkeypox cases have been reported in North and South America, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, parts of Asia and across Europe.

Most patients have been identified via sexual and other health services. Mainly – but not all the time – the cases are happening in men who have sex with men. WHO is ‘issuing guidance’ to help countries set up the right kind of surveillance, laboratory work, clinical care, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement. They’re also collaborating closely with African nations, institutions, and commercial partners to prevent more cases.

How does Monkeypox affect health?

Monkeypox is usually mild. Most people get better without treatment, although it takes 14 to 21 days. Early symptoms might include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. You might get a rash that looks like chickenpox, first on your face then spreading, often to the hands and feet. The rash develops into as few as one and as many as a thousand lumps and liquid-filled pustules which eventually form scabs before falling off. You remain infectious until the scabs have fallen off and you have a fresh new layer of skin underneath.

The WHO says the disease makes children more ill than adults. If you get infected when pregnant you can suffer from complications, including a risk of stillbirth. As they say on their website:

“In most cases, the symptoms of monkeypox go away on their own within a few weeks. However, in some people, an infection can lead to medical complications and even death. Newborn babies, children and people with underlying immune deficiencies may be at risk of more serious symptoms and death from monkeypox.

Complications from monkeypox include secondary skin infections, pneumonia, confusion, and eye problems. In the past, between 1% to 10% of people with monkeypox have died. It is important to note that death rates in different settings may differ due to a number of factors, such as access to health care. These figures may be an overestimate because surveillance for monkeypox has generally been limited in the past. In the newly affected countries where the current outbreak is taking place, there have been no deaths to date.”

Will Monkeypox become more dangerous?

Any disease that circulates in animals, then passes to people, could cause a pandemic if it mutates to become either easier to catch, more deadly, or both. On the other hand it’s less transmissible than covid, and there are already vaccines and treatments.

The current Monkeypox genome has recently been sequenced. It looks like it’s ‘closely related’ to the same variant that turned up in the UK, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and then again in 2019. But nobody knows whether it’s a single variant running wild at the moment or more than one, nor do they know whether it has changed to make it more infectious. The reasons why it’s spreading so fast remain unknown, too.

Because the Monkeypox genome is a lot more complex than covid – with 200,000 or so RNA letters against cov id ’s 30,000 or so - it’ll take a while to figure things out. Scientists are carrying out more sequencing and analysis as we write.

Keep an eye on Monkeypox progress

Come back for the latest reliable news on the outbreak, fresh from the science community.

Kill covid DEAD with UVC LED Purification Lights and Steriliser Units

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 10:53:48 GMT

Viruses are very good at transmitting themselves from person to person, cross contaminating via the air and surfaces. It’s their job. Luckily it’s easier than ever to st op them from spreading.

A certain wavelength of UVC light has been used for decades in healthcare settings around the world. The light damages the DNA and RNA of viruses and other pathogens so badly they can’t reproduce, preventing them from spreading. Over the years the light has probably saved millions of lives. It kills SARS and MERS, hospital acquired infections, Ebola and more. Now it’s increasingly being used to kill covid and its variants.

We make a range of highly effective pathogen-killing UVC lights. First, let’s take a look at our UVC LED Purification Lights, direct fixed static UVC LED units designed to keep people safe from covid and more indoors. Then we’ll explore our Upper Air Germicidal Units (UVGI), the popular UVC LED Steriliser Units that deliver excellent Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation to indoor spaces.

UVC LED Purification Lights 50, 100, 150 or 200W Unit Direct Fixed Surface Sterilisation

Our direct fixed static UVC LED units are very easy to install. Once in place they automatically disinfect the air and surfaces whenever the area is unoccupied, and that means you significantly cut the spread of viral and bacterial illnesses, including covid.

How about safety? Not a problem – the clever central microwave sensor makes sure nobody can be exposed to the light while it’s on.

The Silent Guardian range of fixed UVC lamps sanitises any kind of area fast and easily. The power of the lamp drives the speed of the disinfection, automatically calculating the right Time, Intensity and Distance.

Not only does it potentially save lives. Avoiding covid means fewer people end up suffering from Long Covid. It means fewer days off sick. And, in a litigious world, it means you stand less chance of infecting a member of the public, a supplier or visitor on your premises, then being sued for not taking enough precautions to keep them safe. As you can imagine, clean, virus-free air is also great for productivity.

Our CT-X1 UV LED Air Disinfection Unit

The CT-X1 is one of a family of three popular ceiling units, also including the CT-X2 and the CT-X3. All three Upper Air Germicidal Units act as powerful UVC LED Steriliser Units providing Indirect Fixed Air Sterilisation. Installed high up, they stop the cross contamination of viruses and germs by cutting the viral load in the air right back.

No chemicals
No ozone
Zero maintenance
Deadly to harmful micro-organisms

As an upper air steriliser, it’s safe to keep the CT-X1 on all the time. It disinfects the upper air in a space continually, which is then naturally circulated to protect people in the area. This makes it perfect for constant disinfection in offices, schools, medical settings, shops, and anywhere else people gather.

By doing their thing, our upper air germicidal units help make clean air is norm rather than the exception. If, like many, your building isn’t well ventilated in the first place, it integrates into the fabric of the building.

O ur X Series is available in an industry standard 600mm or 300mm square ceiling tile. The X1 relies on convection to provide constant air disinfection
The X2 comes with mechanical extraction for silent air circulation
The X3 integrates surface and air sterilisation, combining direct ‘line of sight’ disinfection while a space is empty with continual upper air disinfection. This means it is perfect toilets, changing rooms, lifts and other small spaces that aren’t occupied for long

Want to know more?

To find out how our units will keep your business premises safer from covid and other pathogens, get in touch.

The worst case covid scenario of all – And how we can prevent it

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 06:00:04 GMT

"There's always a risk of, as you get more circulation of the virus in the community, that you'll get enough accumulation of new mutations to get a variant substantially different than the ones we're seeing now."
Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President - November 2021.

Let’s get imaginative. What could the worst possible covid outcome be? Roll time forward a couple of years and this could easily be happening...

What would the worst case covid scenario look like?

Picture this. You’re sitting at home, locked down, and this time things have got really scary out there.

Two years ago most of the world’s governments stopped updating their covid stats, and stopped revealing them to the public daily via the media. At the same time many countries dropped their traffic light and other public warning systems, leaving people uninformed and finding it a challenge to get the information they need to stay safe. It was understandable in a way. Everyone was bored silly of being locked down, fed up with wearing masks, and no longer willing to put up with restrictions around socialising.

The 2022 BA.4 and BA.5 variants caused waves but because fewer people were dying and fewer sent to intensive care, living with covid became the norm. Yes, loads of us caught it. Yes, lots of us were fairly ill. Yes, a lot of us got long covid, and many are still struggling to cope now, a couple of years later. But once a pandemic is normalised, it’s hard to persuade people the risk is still worth worrying about.

There we were, going about our business. Now and again a new variant popped up. We carried on as normal. Surges happened then faded away again. But eventually, in late 2023, thanks to millions of us around the globe catching the different variants of covid, passing them on, and therefore keeping the risk of a really nasty variant alive, the BA.100 omicron variant turned up. And the world changed within days.

It didn’t take long to pin down the original case of BA.100. A vulnerable woman who caught covid couldn’t recover. She was ill for weeks. As a result the virus morphed inside her body, eventually becoming different enough from all the other variants to be lethal.

‘Lethal’ in this case means the new variant kills 50% of the people it infects, whether or not they have any immunity from jabs or previous infections. And that makes BA.100 just as deadly as Ebola.

Now, people are genuinely frightened to go outdoors. There’s a mass rebellion amongst those who can’t work at home. Maybe their roles involve interacting with other people, perhaps they’re tasked with things like keeping the National Grid running, working in hospitals, serving in shops, delivering goods. Either way it doesn’t take long before the economy comes to a standstill.

The streets are deserted. No buses or trains are running, pubs and restaurants are closed. Because supermarkets only hold three days’ worth of food, people begin to panic...

Tell you what, let’s stop there. It’s too horrible to contemplate. We don’t need to say more. You get the picture. So how can we fix things?

All we need to do to bring the possibility of this nightmare closer is to keep ignoring variants, keep on allowing millions of people to get infected, take our hands off the vaccination steering wheel, and carry on like there isn’t a pandemic any more. And that is exactly what some countries are sliding towards.

At a time like this, we have to take responsibility for the future ourselves. It means taking a reasonable amount of care over yourself, those you love, and the people you employ. There’s no official guidance around covid safety measures to fight the latest wave, the extra-infectious BA.5 sub-variant, so we’re going to have to exercise common sense ourselves.

Common sense means fitting your premises with affordable covid-killing tech to keep employees, visitors, customers and suppliers safe. That’s what we do.

As a business owner who wants to play a part in the vital fight against new variants emerging, our machines help you minimise the risk. Let’s talk about fitting UVC covid killing units in your premises, whether it’s an office, shop, school, theatre, library, surgery or anywhere else people congregate indoors.

BA.5 heads for global dominance as it surges across the USA

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 11:29:51 GMT

BA.5 has fast become the dominant covid variant in the USA, where the previously-dominant BA.2.12.1 variant is fading fast, having peaked at around 63% of cases five wee ks ago.

In the USA and elsewhere, the latest covid wave is being fuelled by more transmissible omicron subvariants including BA.4 and BA.5. BA.5 is the most worrying, the most dominant of all. In the USA it accounted for an estimated 53.6% of new infections last week. The 4 ^th July celebrations are likely to result in many more cases.

The US Centers for Disease Control says it’s ‘entirely possible’ there were more new daily infections in the USA on 4 ^th July than at any time since the omicron wave. So what’s going on over the Atlantic? And how does the UK’s BA.4 and .5 wave compare? Thanks to Intelligencer for the insight.

BA.5’s progress in the USA

The overall USA test positivity rate, which is the go-to measure for accuracy over there, reveals a seven-day average infection rate of more than 17% for the first time since February. On July 8th New York’s rate alone had shot up to 15.4%, the highest since January.

Just the week before the city had removed its colour-coded covid risk alert system. The mayor claimed it was an ‘old weapon’ fighting an ‘old war’, insisting New York City’ covid levels were at a ‘good, stable place’. This is clearly nonsense in the face of the new BA.5 wave, but so far there’s no replacement system on the cards.

The CDC says community transmission is still high in more than 87% of America’s counties, and remains ‘substantial or higher’ in more than 95%.

The good news – So far, USA BA.5 Hospitalisations aren’t as bad as omicron

Covid hospitalisations are steadily moving upwards, and have been going up since April. So far they’re a long way off the levels seen in the omicron wave. Levels of deaths and intensive care referrals are going up more slowly, still low at the moment. And vaccines are still preventing severe illness most of the time. Vaccines are finally being given to young children over there, too. And if severe illness does happen, medical experts now know what to do to help people. All this is good news.

The bad news – vaccines and immunity from previous infection are less effective

The bad news? BA.5 and BA.5 are different. Both vaccines and prior infection are fast becoming less effective at preventing infection and re-infection, and they’re also a bit less effective at preventing hospitalisation, especially in the many older people in the USA who are either un-boosted or under-boosted.

What will a large BA.5 wave do?

In the best-case scenario, the new wave will be merely ‘disruptive’. At worst it is predicted to increase the risk of more people getting Long Covid, and also increase the risk of new and more dangerous covid variants developing. Right now in the USA, the full impact of multiple re-infections isn’t known. But it’ll be clear before long, since it’s almost inevitable.

How scary is BA.5?

BA.5 might just turn out to be the worst covid variant so far. It comes with a suite of unique mutations that make it very well equipped at avoiding antibodies, so it should be good at re-infecting people who have already had a previous omicron variant. Scientists are currently scrambling to establish the risks it poses.

The chance of even worse variants emerging remains ‘very real’. For example the emergence of BA.2.75, an omicron subvariant that has just turned up in India, is attracting scientific attention right now.

How about the UK?

Here in the UK we’re also seeing a surge of new infections thanks to BA.4 and BA.5. So are many other countries. In most the two new variants haven’t resulted in severe illness, probably because of the immunity and hybrid immunity most people have by now. On the other hand their new evolutionary advantages are very worrying, driving covid ever-onwards. The predictions? The current covid wave is getting bigger fast, and it may last for a long time.

Stay safe from BA.4 and BA.5

Our UVC LED covid killing units are easy to fit, easy to use, affordable, and work hard to kill all the covid variants so far. It also kills horrible diseases like Ebola, MERS, SARS, and Hospital Acquired Infections quickly. It’s the only real way to keep a space clean and safe within minutes, using powerful UCV light. If you’d like to keep everyone at your place safe, get in touch with us to explore the potential.

The latest news on the BA.4 and BA.5 worldwide wave

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 09:49:12 GMT

Covid-19 cases are rising quickly again. But in the UK we find ourselves in a very odd situation. The government isn’t giving warnings or advice. They’re keeping an eye on things, but that’s about it. Plenty of ordinary people believe the pandemic is effectively over, and fewer of us than ever seem to be taking precautions. At the same time healthcare experts and scientists are saying – mostly in vain – that it’s wise to revert to socialising outdoors for a while.

If you run a business, whether it’s customer-facing or not, and you’re wondering what to do about BA.4 and BA.5, you need the facts to base sensible commercial decisions on. Here they are.

The latest news about omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5

Official government data says 109,908 people tested positive for covid in England in the seven days up to 24th June. That’s a hike of 37% on the week before. The real picture is likely to be a lot worse simply because the government is only tracking positive tests logged on its website these days, a problem that’s made worse thanks to stopping free tests.

The Zoe Covid study, which is more reliable than government figures and has been collecting data throughout the pandemic, says there were an estimated 308, 999 new symptomatic cases in the UK on 1 ^st July alone. This means more than 3 million of us probably have symptomatic covid right now. It also looks like daily symptomatic infections rose 150% in June. Now they’re at the highest level they’ve ever been, apart from the three worst weeks. It’s all down to the extra-infectious new sub-variants. So what are the signs?

The symptoms of BA.4 and BA.5

While some people are reporting symptoms like meningitis, including neck pain, a stiff neck, and sensitivity to bright lights, according to the NHS most people with BA.4 or .5 are experiencing these symptoms:

High temperature, where you feel hot to the touch
Shivering and chills
A new continuous cough – coughing a lot for more than an hour, or coughing a lot three times during 24 hours
Losing your sense of smell or taste, or noticing changes to them
Short of breath
Exhaustion
Aches and pains around your body
Headache
Sore throat
Blocked or runny nose
No appetite
Diarrhoea
Feeling or being sick

What’s the difference between BA1 /2 and BA4 /5?

BA.5 and .5 are very different from BA.1 and BA.2. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control they both have new amino-acids in their spike receptor that weren’t there in earlier covid strains. This makes them dominant over BA.1 and .2 and the differences, it appears, are turning out to represent a ‘significant change’ in the sub-variants’ properties.

How dangerous are BA.4 and BA.5?

Both variants are more infectious and better at evading immunity than the strains we’ve seen before. But there’s no evidence either causes more severe illness, according to the UK Health Security Agency or UKHSA. They say BA.5 is growing just over 35% faster than BA.2, and BA.4 is growing just over 19% faster.
This suggests BA.5 is already well on the way to becoming the dominant UK variant.

Is there a rise in hospital admissions yet?

Yes. As the UKHSA’s chief medical advisor says “We have seen a rise in hospital admissions in line with community infections but vaccinations are continuing to keep ICU admissions and deaths at low levels.”

What do medical experts recommend?

The advice from the UKHSA is, as the new variants spread, is that it’s ‘more important than ever that we all remain alert, take precautions, and ensure that we’re up to date with Covid-19 vaccinations’. They say our jabs are still the best defence against serious illness. Another expert, this time a virologist at the University of Warwick, says the rise in cases is worrying, and there’s no room for complacency.

Where have the new sub-variants turned up?

We’re seeing both new variants turning up in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the USA and many more places. Cases have risen in 110 countries, worldwide covid infections have increased by 20%, and deaths have risen in three of the six WHO regions.

Is there any good news?

Yes. Portugal and South Africa have already been through ‘significant’ BA.4 and BA.5 waves, which peaked without a big increase in severe disease, simply because enough people had been vaccinated. The hope is we have the same experience here in the UK.

As the UKHSA says, so far vaccination means that the rise in cases is not translating to a rise in severe illness and deaths. If you haven’t been jabbed, everyone in the know says now’s the time to get yourself protected.

How to protect your business from the risks presented by unvaccinated people?

With so many of us back at work in the normal way how do you, as an employer, keep your employees, visitors and customers safe from infection or re-infection? Our UVC light fittings and mobile sterilisers do a brilliant job of reliably cleaning the air and surfaces, killing covid quickly.

Some work when people are out of a room, others work perfectly safely with people present. Both will help keep everyone safe from the new variants and, as a result, help you do your bit to help prevent even worse variants potentially emerging.

Product Showcase

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 14:45:15 GMT

Our Mobile Vehicle UVC LED Steriliser Units

As the pandemic continues to roll around the planet, more business owners are realising it’s time to fight back. It’s good to know there’s no longer any need to shut down and send your people home in the face of the new covid threat we’re all facing at the moment. It’s great to know innovative UVC light technology is on your side!

Creating reliable ways to keep people in specific sectors and jobs safe

We’ve been working hard to create more products to add to an already popular line. We’re tackling the very specific issues behind some ways of working, including how to keep the drivers of vehicles safe from the virus, so they can do their jobs without interruption, and keep passengers safe as well.

So what do you do when Direct Fixed Surface Sterilisation is a must to keep your employees and all the other people who travel in vehicles safe from the risk of covid – and a host more horrible viruses and pathogens? You invest a surprisingly affordable amount of money in our brilliant Mobile Vehicle UVC LED Steriliser Units.

UVC LED germicidal units for vehicles

Our UVC LED vehicle germicidal unit has been carefully purpose built to be highly effective. It quickly disinfects without causing damage to vehicle interiors or electronics, no matter how often it’s used.

Built with safety in mind, the unit is very easy to use as well as conveniently mobile. There’s minimal covid risk for vehicle operators as a result of the unit’s fast, effective virus free results. As the businesses already using it confirm, the unit is a robust and effective virus killer. Which means it is absolutely perfect for emergency vehicles, public transport, automotive servicing, fleet operations and more.

Whenever you want the driving and passenger experience to be covid-free, our tech steps in to achieve a really good level of safety. It fatally damages the virus’ DNA and RNA so badly it can’t replicate – which stops it in its tracks, effectively dead.

What about our other targeted covid disinfection products?

The Mobile Vehicle UVC LED Steriliser Unit joins an existing collection of well-designed, highly effective covid killing units, including Mobile Sterilisers and Purification Lights. The technology has been proven time and time again, used in healthcare settings for at least the past 50 years. And with new covid sub-variants on the rampage right now, our tech might just drive you ahead of the competition.

If you’d like to explore the potential, give us a call.

Covid is back in the UK – The latest facts about BA.4 and BA.5

Sat, 02 Jul 2022 12:15:01 GMT

According to scientists we’re experiencing a new wave of covid ‘largely’ thanks to the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants that we’ve mentioned before. The surge has seen at least 1.7m people in the UK catch covid for the first time, a second time, or even a third time.

The latest week-on-week increase of 23% is worrying the medical community. The 130% hike we’ve seen in just three weeks is very concerning. But the government isn’t offering any advice so far. Medical experts are taking it more seriously. They recommend we revert to only socialising outdoors.

So how likely are you to be re-infected if you’ve already had covid? Are the jabs you’ve had still working to protect you? And if you get BA.4 or BA.5, how will it affect you?

Catching omicron doesn’t give you good immunity against getting BA.4 and BA.5

When the omicron variant arrived here in December 2021 the reinfection rate shot up 15-fold thanks to the variant’s many mutations. It escaped established immunity in many of us, which is why so many people who’d been vaccinated or had covid already caught it all over again earlier this year.

Catching omicron doesn’t give you much protection against catching covid again simply because having had the original omicron doesn’t help the immune system fight off BA.4 and BA.5. If you caught omicron, there’s no reason why you won’t catch BA.4 or BA.5. On the other hand it remains rare for someone who has already had covid to be reinfected within 3 months.

How about the vaccinations you’ve had?

The BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants both have new mutations that weren’t found in the original omicron variant.

This means, even if you’ve had all three jabs, you’re still vulnerable to the new sub-variants.

According to an article in Nature magazine both of the new sub-variants ‘notably evade the neutralising antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination’. The same goes for booster jabs based on the BA.1 subvariant, for example Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. They don’t offer broad-spectrum protection against new omicron variants either. But it’s good to know that despite covid’s clever immune evasion, the vaccines we’ve had should still protect us against serious illness.

The most important thing of all? If you’re due a jab, have a jab. It’s vital stay up to date with vaccinations because they maintain good levels of covid antibodies in your bloodstream.

If you do catch covid again, what can you expect?

As a rule covid is milder the second or third time we catch it, thanks to residual immunity. But because the two sub-variants have probably evolved to focus on infecting lung cells once more, going lower down inside the lungs rather than affecting the upper respiratory tract, they have more in common with the earlier, more severe alpha and delta variants. All this means BA.4 and BA.5 could prove a greater health risk than the original BA.2. We just don’t know yet.

There’s no government guidance – So what should you do?

There’s no government guidance so far, even though a new study reveals people who’ve had covid face a potential three times bigger risk of ‘permanent decline’ in their health. No wonder medical experts say it’s best to avoid infection or reinfection, just in case it hits you hard. Scientists are saying the same, since every extra person that catches covid increases the risk of an even worse variant developing.

If you run a business, the last thing you want is to have large numbers of people off sick, potentially staying off for at least five days. Everyone who gets covid faces the risk of developing Long Covid, which could see some of your employees unable to work for a long time, potentially as long as two years or more.

All this puts you, as a business owner, in a tricky position. How do you keep your employees safe and well, and keep the people who visit your place free from covid as well?

Fit affordable UVC tech to kill covid stone dead in no time

Our UCV covid killing light fittings do the hard work for you, keeping your premises safe by killing covid extremely effectively, both in the air and on surfaces. The price is right, too. They’re so much more affordable than not having the staff you need, or losing people to long covid for months on end.

Research into covid, long covid, and covid killing UVC tech

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 12:03:46 GMT

Research into covid continues. It’s still a mystery in so many ways, especially the Long Covid aspect of the infection. Studies into the use of UVC light at a dedicated wavelength also continue, with study after study revealing how safe, effective and efficient the light is at killing covid – plus awful diseases like SARS, MERS, Ebola, Hospital Acquired Infections and many more.

Put them together and what do you get? A highly effective way to prevent the spread of covid, keep people safe indoors at work and play, and reduce the risk of more variants and sub-variants emerging. Let’s see what’s happening out there.

The scramble to understand BA.4 and BA.5

As the BA.4 and BA.5 variants spread fast across the UK, the government says there’s no need to worry. Scientists and medical experts disagree. All over the world teams are dedicated to discovering more about the sub-variants we’re battling at the moment. Scientists and medics are hoping against hope that a new, worse variant or sub-variant doesn’t arrive thanks to the huge surge in new cases.

Research into the causes, symptoms and potential cures for Long Covid

At the same time there’s an equally large body of research looking into Long Covid. There’s a huge amount of time and effort going into figuring out the causes, the symptoms, and the longer term implications of the condition that has seen people like the investigative journalist John Simpson, aged just 37, unable to live a normal life. Three bouts of covid have left him exhausted, depressed and without the strength to button up his duvet cover, and he has been forced to move back to his parents’ place.

Celebrities suffering from Long Covid

A growing number of celebrities are suffering from Long Covid, have had it, or are still in recovery from it. The list includes Lena Dunham, Gwyneth Paltrow, Billy Eilish, Marianne Faithfull, Salma Hayek, Danny Berstein, Emma Sams, Alyssa Milano, Anna Camp, the tennis player Grigor Dimitrov and the rower Jonny Walton. Plus Carol Vorderman, Michelle Mone, Antony Loveless, Chris Cuomo, and the MP Andrew Gwynne. Then there’s Prince Charles, who had covid a while ago and still suffers from a loss of smell and taste ‘months later’. All this helps highlight the risks faced by millions more ordinary people.

UVC light covid-killing tech proven time and time again

Every week we see more reports about technologies like ours that use a very specific wavelength of UVC light to kill covid and a range of other pathogens by wrecking their DNA and RNA. This time around we’re seeing news stories from the Philippines, the EU, Malaysia, the USA, Canada, India and more, all of which either have teams of scientists and technologists exploring the potential, machines already on the market, or more new research to share.

Roll it all together and the message is clear

Covid is back in the UK with a vengeance. Long Covid is becoming more of a problem as time goes by, with around 2 million of us in the UK already suffering from ongoing symptoms. UVC tech is proving an exceptionally effective and affordable way to keep people safe from covid infection.

The message is clear. None of us want another dodgy variant or sub-variant to emerge. We all need to minimise the risk of catching covid, whatever our age or state of health. And there’s a sure-fire way to help make that happen. Let’s talk about how our powerful, safe UVC LED tech will keep your business premises clear of covid, helping you to do your bit for a better future economy, for our health service, for your employees, your customers, and everyone’s future.

Black Death’s origin discovered, news about post-covid brain fog

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 12:03:01 GMT

Last week we took a good look at the Black Death. In the past few days the original pathogens responsible for the infamous plague have finally been found, lurking inside bacteria in three ancient graves in Kyrgyzstan dating back to 1338. There’s also news about the latest research into the post-covid ‘brain fog’ that affects so many of us after we’ve recovered from the virus. Let’s take a look.

Black Death origins finally discovered in Kyrgyzstan

Newly-discovered grave pathogens look like the most recent common ancestor of the Black Death. They also gave rise to most of the plague strains circulating the planet today, according to Johannes Krause at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

The plague first turned up in the written record during 1346, in the Crimea. The army laying siege to a city at the time decided to catapult plague-ridden dead bodies over the city walls, and the people who fled took the plague with them to Europe.

Scientists previously thought the original plague may have come from somewhere in east and central Asia. But a series of Kyrgyzstan tombs engraved with ‘pestilence’ as the cause of death, and dates suggesting plague, piqued scientific curiosity. The resulting recovered DNA from the bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, was found in three graves, and the DNA in it was sequenced to prove the point.

These days Yersinia pestis infects a variety of rodents around the world. The plague bacteria that currently affects marmosets in the same region in Kyrgyzstan as the graves are genetically the most similar to the old grave samples. And that suggests this is the place where the plague first jumped from animals to humans. It’s good to know, since the more we understand about pathogens and how they originate and spread, the better armed we are against them.

About post-covid brain fog – The latest science

Millions of us around the globe are experiencing difficulties with cognitive functioning after a dose of covid. Brain fog has become famous as a result. But it has been around a lot longer than covid. People with a broad variety of medical problems have suffered from brain fog, and it can last a long time. There are hopes that the surge in covid-related brain fog will kick off the research needed to establish what’s going on and, ideally, find a cure.

Brain fog reports go back to the early 1800s, when a German physician described the cognitive deficits people suffered when delirious. In the 1990s it was showcased thanks to important new work on chronic fatigue syndrome and various autoimmune problems. It has always affected many more women than men, often dismissed as hysteria or exaggeration, so it’s good to see the condition finally getting the scientific attention it deserves.

Around 10 – 25% of people with covid get Long Covid to one degree or another. Brain fog is one of the top three symptoms. A 2021 survey of just under 1000 adults in the USA showed almost 50% reporting brain fog, including forgetfulness and issues with concentrating.

Research into the virus proves how a lot of the damage caused by covid happens thanks to an overactive immune response, potentially leading to inflammation in the brain, which slows down our neural works, leads to cell damage and death, and affects brain cells’ ability to communicate. But we also know covid can affect our circulation, with possible changes to the blood vessels affecting the crucial barrier between the blood and the brain.

Things like inflammation and compromised blood vessels can lead to a lack of essential brain cell nutrients and issues with blood flow. This could explain why brain fog affects people so differently, and why it can fluctuate so dramatically from bad to bearable and back again. It also suggests people should be able to recover from brain fog, eventually getting better.

There’s more. It looks a lot like pre-existing issues like sleep apnoea, migraine and ADHD, depression and anxiety can make existing brain fog-like symptoms worse post-covid. The same sort of increased inflammation is also found during menopause, and when we suffer an autoimmune disease.

The long and the short of it is that brain fog is ‘really complicated’, involving ‘dozens of different factors beyond inflammation’. On the bright side most research so far suggests as long as any underlying medical conditions are treated properly, those with brain fog should begin to improve within three months.

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SOURCES

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2324597-origin-of-black-death-finally-found-in-bacteria-from-kyrgyzstan-graves/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25433902-300-we-are-finally-starting-to-understand-brain-fog-and-how-to-treat-it/

Covid subvariants BA4 and BA5 hit the ground running in England

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 13:35:17 GMT

It appears the two super-infectious covid omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, are pushing covid cases in England up again, and it’s a dramatic rise. The Office for National Statistics' latest survey reveals case numbers have shot up by over 300,000 in just a week. The week before showed an estimated 797,500 people in England had the virus, 1 in 70 of us. The latest numbers show around 1,131,000 of us have covid, around 1 in 50. Australia, the US and UK are all, apparently, on track for BA.5 to dominate, and there’s some evidence to show both variants cause more severe disease than omicron itself. They’re both more transmissible too, better at evading previous immunity.

Will England see a BA.4 and BA.5 wave?

Can we expect the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 to cause another wave, and if so how big will it be? Australia is already bowing under the strain, as is the USA and parts of Europe.

Let’s take a look at previous omicron subvariants. BA.1 caused a massive wave in South Africa before going global. The BA.2 wave began before BA.1 ended, causing a second wave in some countries. While there were more BA.1 and BA.2 cases than previous waves, the death rate was lower thanks to widespread immunity from vaccinations and past infections. It also soon became clear that BA.1 and BA.2 were less likely to cause severe disease than delta.

On the other hand, when BA.1 and BA.2 hit countries which had managed to steer mostly clear of covid so far, like South Korea, they struggled to contain both subvariants and there were many more deaths. Hong Kong suffered particularly badly because of high case numbers, low vaccination levels in older people, and hospitals failing to cope.

The BA.2 wave is still with us. In England cases have dropped sharply, but there’s a caveat – reduced testing means we’re not 100% certain what’s going on right now. But we’re definitely seeing a sharp rise in BA.4 and BA.5 cases here and abroad. Both only differ from omicron by a few mutations. And both are clearly more contagious, as well as better at evading antibodies in vaccinated people and those who’ve already recovered from BA.1 or BA.2.

BA.1 and BA.2 enter human cells in a different way from delta. This makes them less likely to infect the lungs, one reason why the symptoms are less severe. But a team of scientists has found that BA.5 has ‘switched back’ to entering cells in the same way as delta. And that’s worrying. Thankfully most of us in the UK still have some immunity.

So far, South Africa’s BA.4 and BA.5 wave has proved milder than most. Portugal’s BA.5 wave is driving hospitalisations and deaths up to almost the level they were at the peak of the BA.1 wave. Nobody knows, yet, why Portugal is suffering more than South Africa.

It’s possible that BA.2 infections might give people better protection than BA.1 against BA.4 and BA.5. Because the UK’s BA.2 wave was bigger than Portugal’s, we might be in a better position to fight it. In a country like China, where fewer people have been jabbed or the jabs are less effective, we could see much more severe BA.4 and BA.5 waves.

What are the experts advising?

Experts say countries should focus on people who haven’t had at least three doses of vaccine, making sure everyone gets fully jabbed. You might also want to wear masks or reduce socialising. And you might want to ventilate your building better. You can also harness our popular LED UVC lamps to keep air and surfaces clear of covid, cleaning everything quickly and safely. While none of this will stop more waves, it will help reduce their impact as well as save more people from the ongoing risk of long covid.

Sources:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/covid-infections-warnings-wave-111438642.html

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2324374-how-big-a-covid-19-wave-could-omicron-subvariants-ba-4-and-ba-5-cause/

Covid hospital cases are rising again in the UK and elsewhere

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 11:15:01 GMT

A huge survey of the oceans has revealed 5000 new viruses we didn’t know about before. At the same time melting glaciers and permafrost could easily be the source of new and potentially deadly pathogens, surfaced by climate change.

Everyone is much more aware of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens than ever before, and that’s a very good thing. So what’s the latest news about the covid pandemic? As it turns out, the UK appears to be on the brink of another wave.

UK covid hospital cases are rising again

A few days ago we saw reports that at the end of May, weekly covid deaths in England and Wales had fallen to the lowest level since July 2021, with 410 deaths registered in the seven days to May 27 ^th . Now it looks like covid-led hospital admissions are going up again, leading experts to warn the nation about another wave.

The NHS is concerned about the number of people in England admitted to hospital with covid, which is beginning to grow. The analysis comes from John Roberts of the Covid Actuaries group, revealing hospital admissions had ‘stopped falling’. The numbers from last week showed weekly admissions up by 4% per cent across England on 5 ^th June, the latest data available, up a third in the North East and Yorkshire.

There are also reports from Scotland of over a thousand new covid cases in just one week at the beginning of June. The seven day average number of infections for the week ending 5th June was 1181, over 25% more than the week before.

Does this mean we’re in for another covid wave? Experts say yes, we could be, but there’s no way to tell how widespread or how serious it’ll be if so.

Covid cases jump in China, Singapore, Middle East and South East Asia

Covid cases are ramping up in Shanghai, where 3 million people are due to be locked down again. And thanks to almost 200 cases linked to a popular 24 hour Beijing bar, China is once again struggling to maintain its zero covid policy. At the same time the WHO reports that last week, the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported worldwide fell everywhere except the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Moderna’s new booster increases covid immunity

Moderna says its new two-strain Covid booster jab increases immunity against the omicron variant. They’re the first to reveal preliminary results from a clinical trial of a vaccine targeted at omicron. But the study was only small and the results can’t be confirmed quite yet. Let’s hope the results of larger studies bear out those of the original tests.

Holiday destinations drop their covid test rules

Popular holiday destinations have begun scrap ping their covid travel rules in preparation for the summer holiday season. Now you can fly to the USA without a negative test, and Turkey has scrapped its covid vaccine entry requirements. At the same time the Biden administration recently warned that the USA will soon run out of money to pay for COVID vaccines, treatments and tests.

The long covid treatment postcode lottery

The UK is seeing calls from the nursing profession to improve long covid research since 'existing services are woefully inadequate', and people are currently facing a 'postcode lottery' of care. There are worries over the way some clinics treat Long Covid as a physical problem, while the majority still see it as psychological – which it definitely is not.

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Covid has been terrible – But how about Bubonic Plague?

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:11:37 GMT

In 2021 the bacterium behind the Black Death turned up in a 5000 year old skull found in Latvia. It was the earliest ever plague strain discovered so far. And it served as a timely reminder: the next pandemic could be something new, or it could be something as ancient as the Black Death.

The black death plague remains, lurking under cover across the world, emerging now and again to cause havoc. While it’s very unlikely we’ll see another catastrophic event like the medieval plague, it’s worth remembering that despite all our modern vaccines and antibiotics, the disease still kills 10% of people who catch it. Covid’s 1% death rate looks harmless in comparison, and that managed to bring the entire world to a halt. No wonder experts are preparing for the worst.

Let’s take a look at the plague, how it affected the world in the past, and the risk it poses to the modern world.

A potted history of the plague

The infamous plague we all know about, which we’re taught about at school, kicked off in Crimea in 1347. By 1351 it had killed millions. The initial five year outbreak is thought to have killed half the population of medieval Europe. Then it died back. A few years later it returned for a second wave, killing over 50 million people before it subsided. This, the most famous outbreak of the black death, turned into a series of pandemics that went on killing people for five hundred years. But it wasn’t the first.

An earlier outbreak flattened Istanbul in AD 541, then spread around the world and kept going for over 200 years. There was another plague pandemic in 1772, this time in the Chinese province of Yunnan. It hit Hong Kong in 1894, spread via travellers, ended up killing about 20 million people, and finally ended during the 1940s. But, again, the bacterium that caused it survived. And in the USA, in 2015, 15 people caught it and 4 died, a mortality rate of over a quarter.

Plague remains common across the world

To this day, the plag ue breaks out and kills people. Yersinia pestis remains common in rats and other rodents, and in the parasites that live on their blood. The ‘zoonotic reservoirs’ it creates in wildlife are widespread, and there are many of them. This makes the plague impossible to completely get rid of. The only continent that’s free from it at the moment is Australia.

Just one man was responsible for the disease’s recent spread on the island of Madagascar. He infected dozens of passengers on the bus he was travelling on before dying in transit. By the time the outbreak had ended 202 people had died. India, China and the US have seen recent plague outbreaks, too. And now it’s being considered a ‘re-emerging disease’.

How come plague is making its way back?

The cause is humanity’s ‘relentless encroachment on nature’, which means we encounter animals carrying pathogens more frequently than ever before. The more we disturb land where people haven’t lived before, the closer contact we have with dangerous zoonotic reservoirs.

What happens when you catch bubonic plague?

The bacterium invades the lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck then replicates incredibly fast, causing painful swellings called buboes. As little as two days later you get a sudden and violent attack of fever, chills, headaches, body aches, weakness, nausea, and vomiting.

If it gets into your blood it can turn into septicaemic plague. If it enters the lungs you end up with pneumonic plague. Septicaemic plague leads to actual septicaemia. Pneumonic plague morphs into pneumonia. Both almost always end in death. If you don’t get treatment, all varieties of the plague are ‘highly lethal’. If you’re lucky and your case doesn’t go pneumonic or septicaemic, your survival rate might be as high as 70%.

Outbreaks spread incredibly fast simply because the septicaemic version ends up back in parasites, and the pneumonic version spreads between people via infected respiratory droplets in the air or on surfaces, like covid.

Can the three types of plague be cured with antibiotics?

The plague can be cured with antibiotics. But the Madagascar outbreak we mentioned had a death rate of just under 10% despite a million doses of antibiotics being used to try to stop it. Most cases were pneumonic, which is only treatable during a small window of time, within 24 hours of symptoms appearing. If not, the fatality rate is almost 100%.

What about antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance would be horrific, making the best treatments we have useless. In fact it’s already happening. Scientists have found antibiotic resistance to ‘every drug recommended for treatment’ in samples from wild animals and infected people. Most remain treatable but if a strong drug-resistant strain turns up, it could ‘potentially be grim’.

What’s the best way to keep humanity safe from plague?

The best option, by far, is vaccination. The problem is existing plague vaccines are old, so old that the WHO can’t recommend them any more. While they’ve probably saved tens of millions of lives and helped to bring the plague pandemic to a halt over the years, they only provide short-lived immunity. And they don’t work at all against pneumonic plague.

There’s more. Some vaccines, called attenuated vaccines, come with a risk of serious side effects. Worse still, they could force the plague to morph back into its most dangerous form. While we’ve been lucky so far, a Chicago scientist died of an attenuated strain of the plague in 2009. His medical condition made the disease worse, but the genetic condition he had is common enough in ‘white people’ to make attenuated vaccines far too risky.

There are at least 20 new plague vaccines being worked on as we write. None of them, so far, have met the WHO criteria for a successful vaccine. Progress is slow. Funds and resources are limited. So let’s hope the plague doesn’t kick off again before an effective vaccine has been created, tested, an d brought to market.

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Long covid lingers, vaccine proof, government mistrust and more

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:11:29 GMT

There’s all sorts of covid news being reported. Here are some facts you can trust, as reported by New Scientist magazine.

This news comes directly from people who know the score, whose only agenda is the truth. It’s vitally important not to be misled when one study reveals that 33% of people in the UK believe the government is exaggerating the number of covid deaths, and around 2 million of us in the UK are already struggling to cope with Long Covid.

The la test ONS stats about long covid in the UK

Around 2 million of us in the UK are suffering from ongoing covid symptoms more than four weeks after being infected. The ONS survey reveals an estimated 3.1% of us were struggling with long covid symptoms at 1 ^st May 2022, two hundred thousand more than the ONS’ previous estimate on 3 ^rd April.

1.4 million long covid sufferers have been coping with ongoing illness for at least 12 weeks. 826,000 are estimated to have been suffering for at least a year, and 376,000 were first infected at least two years ago. 55% were chronically fatigued, 32% were short of breath, 23% had a cough, and 23% had ongoing aching muscles.

Your best covid defence is three jabs

Three doses of any covid vaccine is apparently the best defence against covid. A study proving this took place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The team analysed 53 different vaccine studies that took place during the pandemic, covering a whopping 100 million people who were given 7 types of covid vaccine in 24 different combinations. It looks like three jabs of any mRNA vaccine gives you 96% protection against both symptomatic and asymptomatic covid, even when the different variants are factored in.

Covid conspiracy theory is widespread

A team at King’s College London surveyed 12,000 people about covid. The study quizzed people in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway and Poland. The results were shocking – around 33% of Brits believe the government is exaggerating the number of covid deaths. In Poland it’s 43%. The country where people trust the government’s stats most of all is Norway. Just 24% of Norwegians don’t trust their own government’s numbers.

It also looks like 15% of UK residents don’t believe almost all scientists think covid vaccines are safe. This reveals a ‘stubborn minority’ who don’t believe the scientific consensus about vaccine safety and don’t think the government reporting of covid deaths is truthful.

The omicron picture... revealed

The UK’s ONS Coronavirus Infection Survey shows that when omicron was dominant, it came with a re-infection risk 8 times higher than delta. A previous ONS survey showed the risk of re-infection was 10 times higher when omicron was dominant than when delta was in full swing.

Heart issues emerge for those hospitalised with covid

If you’re hospitalised with covid you face the risk of impaired function of the right side of your heart, as revealed by a study into 121 people who wer e critically ill with the virus. Just under a third of them had abnormalities to the right side of the heart, affecting the blood supply to the lungs.

Air pollution increases the risk of severe covid

A Canadian study along with another in California both show air pollution can increase the risk of severe covid. They examined people’s medical records to discover links between covid outcomes and exposure to fine PM2.5 particles and nitrogen dioxide. The Canadian study looked into ozone exposure as well.

The California team saw people exposed to higher levels of PM2.5 being 20-30% more at risk of hospitalisation, ventilation, and intensive care. Nitrogen dioxide exposure increased the risk by 12 – 18%. The Canadian team found those exposed to even low levels of pollution were at more risk of intensive care, especially when ozone was involved. With air pollution an increasing problem in UK cities, it’s important we do everything possible to turn the tide.

Our covid killer light tech also kills other pathogens

Air quality, indoors and out, is a hot topic. Too many commercial premises and public spaces in the UK, old and new, are not properly ventilated. Our UVC lights kill covid and a host more pathogens, which goes a long way towards dealing with the ongoing health risks behind poor ventilation. It’s a no-brainer for keeping people safe!

UVC and air travel, new studies into UV and health, autumn boosters

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:11:26 GMT

Airlines are adopting safe covid killing UVC tech, it looks like UV saves lives in hospitals, and the experts are recommending autumn booster jabs for vulnerable people. Let’s take a look at the latest news from the UVC disinfection world.

Airlines are keen to use UVC when planes are in flight

We’re seeing reports about ultraviolet light-based disinfection systems in the UVC wavelength range being used more widely in aviation , as airline operators do everything they can to neutralize microorganisms in cabins and cockpits. The tech is proven, having been widely used in healthcare settings for decades. So what’s the story?

UVC-led disinfection solutions are being used to bathe surfaces in strong germicidal UVC light after passengers have left a plane. This means there’s no danger to the occupants. But there’s more. As we know, ultraviolet light applications can also be used while planes are full of people and flying.

Take Diehl, which is using UVC tech as part of its licensing agreement with Boeing. Emitting Far-UVC light at a specific wavelength, the tech is installed in aircraft lavatories, galleys, flight decks, cargo bays, passenger service units and anywhere else with cabin lighting. It is so effective that many more companies in the aviation sector are considering using UV light disinfection like ours to keep passengers and staff safe.

Like us they believe Far-UVC tech is the ideal aircraft solution, since it’s perfectly safe to use when people are present. Passengers enjoy continually-cleaned air and surfaces, the installation is very simple, and aircraft downtime is minimal.

US narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy success

Over in New Orleans a randomised pilot study by a te am at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine reveals UVB light is safe for covid patients. It also decreases death rates, although because the group studied was only small the results need to be confirmed by a larger study.

The 30 patients involved were hospitalized but didn’t need oxygen supplementing or intensive care. They were treated every 24 hours with either escalating doses of NB-UVB or a placebo. Nothing bad happened. In fact the team actually saw ‘reduced mortality’ in unvaccinated and fully or partially vaccinated patients.

Exposure to UV radiation triggers a lot of molecular responses in the skin. This drives strong immune responses, including decreased ‘pathologic inflammation’ and improved ‘intracellular killing’ of pathogens.

It looks like ultraviolet light helps stabilize the human immune system in many diseases, including psoriasis, some skin cancers, and even transplant patients. As the team leader Dr. Lau says, “The results from the pilot phase of this trial suggest that shining our narrow-band ultraviolet lights for a few minutes each day saved lives.”

The next step is to carry out a molecular analysis of blood from the patients to confirm how the mechanism works. Then there will be a bigger clinical trial to prove the findings statistically.

Autumn boosters for vulnerable Brits

The UK’s vaccine advisory group recommends vulnerable people get booster jabs in autumn 2022. The over-65s, people in care homes, frontline health and social care workers, plus the clinically vulnerable aged between 16 -64 will be offered a booster jab in the autumn.

It makes sense since experts say 2021’s autumn booster programme provided ‘excellent protection’ against severe covid. Right now there’s a spring booster available in the UK to those over 75, care home residents and people aged 12 or more who have suppressed immune systems. The governments in England, Scotland and Wales all say they’ll follow the autumn recommendations.

Keep everyone safe, do your bit

The experts say the pandemic is far from over in the UK and elsewhere. Right now it looks like we’re in a period where the virus isn’t quite so prevalent – so let’s try to keep it that way. There’s always a risk of a nasty new variant, and the more of us catch covid the worse the risk is. Use our UV lights to keep everyone at your place safe from covid and a load more pathogens, and do your bit to help the country stay safe into the future.

About Avian Flu in the UK – Can bird flu recombine with covid?

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:11:24 GMT

In June 2021 the first human case of the rare H10N3 bird flu strain was reported in China. Until then, no human cases of H10N3 had has been reported elsewhere, and the r isk of large-scale spread among people was low.

Avian flu or bird flu is caused by influenza viruses spread easily between birds, but very rarely in humans. The symptoms are a lot like flu, with a fever and cough, aching muscles and a sore throat. But it can also turn into a very serious respiratory illness.

Similar strains, including H5N1 and H7N9, have killed hundreds of deaths in humans since the first reported cases in 1997. Since the first human case, for example, H5N1 has killed nearly 60% of those it infects. No wonder there are increasing calls around the globe to rethink factory farming.

Bird flu is rife in the UK right now and while it’s currently only affecting birds, there’s always a risk to humans.

Avian flu in the UK and beyond

On 3 ^rd May the Scottish Government found that four eider ducks had died of bird flu. In the past week several cases of avian flu have been confirmed in wild birds in Shetland, with reports of dead skuas and gannets. 20 different bird species have been found dead in east Sutherland, Scotland.

In France the biggest bird flu outbreak in history means there’s a ban on the import of birds, chicks and hatching eggs, with around 15 million quality farm birds already culled thanks to HPAI, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. There’s also a confirmed outbreak in Nottinghamshire.

In the USA they’re struggling to control the worst avian flu outbreak in seven years.

What is avian flu?

There are two types of bird flu virus: high pathogenicity (HPAI) and low pathogenicity (LPAI). The ‘high’ one is the most dangerous to birds. It’s different from human pandemic flu, which has nothing to do with birds. The subtype H5N1 is highly pathogenic, and this is the one that’s currently spreading fast across Asia, Russia, southern Europe, and of course France.

Can avian flu spread to humans?

While it rarely happens, the disease can spread from birds to humans. The bird to human transmission of H5N1 is rare, so far only found in a few people in Hong Kong, Thailand, and across Indonesia. It’s passed on to people who breathe in dust and particles from infected birds, or who don’t wash their hands properly after working with birds. It can even be spread via infected equipment, machinery and clothing.

A couple of weeks ago reports were coming out of Hong Kong about a human case of avian influenza A(H5N6) in the Chinese mainland, a 49-year-old man in Baise City, Guangxi.

What the UK HSE is doing about bird flu

It’s worrying that climate change is likely to make the spread of viruses and pathogens faster and worse, according to experts. Most worrying of all, though, is the risk of it recombining with seasonal human flu to create a new potential pandemic human flu strain. That’s why the HSE is working closely with DEFRA, the National Farmers Union, the British Poultry Council and more to create ‘practical guidance for people working with birds’.

Keep avian flu under control to cut the risk of a nasty new recombinant

We already know it’s only a matter of time before there’s another pa ndemic of one kind or another. Recent news reveals the UK is no better prepared for another pandemic as it was for covid, despite many years of clear warnings from scientists. Some say we’re less prepared than ever, already putting ourselves in a very vulnerable position.

In a situation like this we all need to pull together to keep our employees, visitors and customers safe from covid and other pathogens. It’s our responsibility to help create a safer future. Let’s talk about how our brilliant tech can affordably, safely and effectively keep covid and many other nasties at bay.

27 key facts about Monkeypox – What’s the risk?

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:11:22 GMT

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the 200 or so Monkeypox cases found in recent weeks could be ‘just the beginning’. They don’t know if it’s the tip of a bigger iceberg, with ‘many more cases... undetected in communities’. So what’s it all about? Do you need to take measures, and could it become a pandemic?

What is Monkeypox?

Monkeypox is actually an orthopoxvirus, from the same family of viruses as smallpox and cowpox. The virus is spread to humans from animals and the symptoms are very like smallpox, but ‘clinically less severe’.

The first confirmed UK case was discovered in early May, and since then many more have been identified.
So far the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says there are 219 cases and some have ‘no obvious origin’, which means it might be spreading undetected.

How many monkeypox cases are there and where are they?

The UK has 9 confirmed cases, most of which are in London. Portugal has 14 confirmed and 20 suspected cases, Spain has 7 confirmed and 24 suspected, Italy has 2 suspected cases, as does Belgium, which also has 1 confirmed. France and Sweden each have 1 confirmed case. USA has 1 confirmed and 1 suspected case, Canada has 1 confirmed and 21 suspected, and Australia has 1 confirmed and 1 suspected. But the disease is ‘probably more widespread’ than is being detected, and it isn’t clear if the cases are linked.

27 facts about Monkeypox

Monkeypox usually spreads among monkeys in Central and West Africa
Now and again it hops into people
It was first noticed in laboratories in the late 1950s
The first human case turned up in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The latest 4 UK cases have no known links to previous cases
It doesn’t usually spread easily between people
Monkeypox is now spreading from person to person in the countries with known cases
The UK HSA says the country’s latest cases are mostly ‘ men who have sex with men’
It can be spread during sex thanks to skin-to-skin contact
The WHO says Monkeypox can be transmitted by droplet exposure via large exhaled droplets as well as contact with infected skin lesions or contaminated materials
The WHO hasn’t confirmed it’s airborne – they say you need to have ‘prolonged face-to-face contact’ with an infected person to catch it
The early symptoms of monkeypox? It looks a lot like chickenpox at first. Fever, headache, muscle ache, backache, swollen lymph glands, chills, exhaustion, and a rash on the face that moves to other parts of the body including the genitals
Monkeypox is usually mild. Most people recover ‘within a few weeks’ without treatment
In Africa Monkeypox can be deadly in as many as 1 in 10 people if it’s the ‘Congo strain’
The West African strain is deadly in about 1 in 100 ‘reported cases’ – luckily this seems to be the one that’s spreading in the UK right now, but other countries haven’t sequenced the virus’s DNA yet
Because many cases aren’t reported, being so mild, the actual death rate is probably a lot lower
Children are more likely to get very poorly than grown-ups
Catching Monkeypox during pregnancy can mean complications, including stillbirth
The antiviral drug tecovirimat (also called Tpoxx) has been approved in Europe for treating Monkeypox. The Jynneos vaccine (also called Imvanex and Imvamune), is approved in Europe for preventing Monkeypox in people aged over 18
If you had a smallpox jab as a child, last done in 1971, you’ll already have some immunity
Is this a new strain of Monkeypox? Nobody knows yet
It may be more transmissible than other strains and could be spread far and wide by a ‘superspreader’
The outbreak should be able to be stopped by contact tracing, which is how the disease is usually tracked
The UK is currently offering vaccines to high risk contacts
A pandemic isn’t at all likely
It has NOT come from a lab!
The virus isn’t as bad as covid – but Monkeypox is a growing threat. As one piece of 2018 research said, ‘The emergence of Monkeypox as a significant human pathogen is indisputably a realistic scenario’

Lessons learned from covid

It’d be unwise to feel complacent about any disease that’s spreading through the human population. So far it looks like Monkeypox is relatively harmless, but like any virus it can morph and change into something either more or less dangerous.

While we haven’t tested our UVC covid killing light fittings on Monkeypox yet, being a virus it’s likely it can be made harmless by UVC light at the wavelength we use. It certainly kills off covid, ebola, MERS, SARS and various hospital acquired infections – and that’s very good to know.

Covid complacency, global concerns, UV anti-covid tech keeps booming

Thu, 19 May 2022 14:30:04 GMT

It’s a shocker. The Office for National Statistics says just 51% of people in England who have tested positive for covid are bothering to follow the official isolation guidelines.

The legal requirement to self isolate after a positive covid test came to an end at the end of February. April saw new guidelines for people testing positive, asking them to avoid contact with others until their symptoms died off or they stopped feeling poorly. Sadly only half ‘adhered fully to self isolation guidance’.

While it’s similar to the number for mid-March it reveals a ‘significant decrease’ in levels of adherence compared to earlier this year. And that means covid complacency has well and truly set in.

‘Covid complacency’ comes with a price Down Under
Australia has reported over 50,000 new infections for three days in a row, with a total death toll of 7721. This takes May cases past half a million and deaths past 500, and Australia's per capita infection rate has soared to become one of the highest in the world. They’re expecting a nasty spike over the coming winter.

Chris Moy, VP of the Australian Medical Association, says letting restrictions go after almost two years of being strict is the culprit. "We are up there with the very largest case numbers in the world, partly because we didn't have so many cases earlier but the complacency, the freedom has a price."

Covid complacency becomes a worldwide concern
At the same time other countries are struggling. Guyana is suffering a new wave. Indonesia and Ghana are both very worried about covid complacency. The same goes for the Philippines, India, and South Africa.
Over in the USA Joe Biden is warning world leaders against covid complacency. South Korea is suffering badly from a run of new cases, as is Rwanda. In fact the whole of Africa is being seen by some as a worrying melting pot where few are vaccinated, there’s not a lot of testing going on, and reported cases are probably far lower than the real picture.

The global UV light covid killing tech boom rumbles on
Every time we search Google for news about UV light tech killing covid, we come up with more companies and countries using tech like ours to keep people safe from infection. No wonder a new report on Yahoo Finance predicts the global UV disinfection market could hit an awe-inspiring US $8.3 billion by 2027.
Others predict the North American UV disinfection market alone could easily hit $2.46 billion by 2028.

Take Don K. Milton, professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, over in the USA. He knows conventional UV-C light has been widely used in hospitals, prisons and more for over 8 decades. Because conventional UV light can damage the skin and eye, you can’t shine it directly at people or other living beings. But Far UV-C’s shorter wavelength means it’s safe. Milton imagines portable devices mounted in ceilings to limit the spread of pathogens in places where people gather. We knew this already, of course, since we’re already busy supplying the kind of units he’s imagining to businesses of every kind across the UK and beyond.

David Michaels, professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University, also in the USA, agrees. He has told CBS news that he hopes the tech will join ventilation, filtration, masks and vaccination as everyday ways to stay safe from covid and a host more nasty pathogens.

Keep covid at bay with our proven UV tech
More than 100 companies, large and small, have already fitted our brilliant UV-C lamps to their premises, keeping people safe from infection and also keeping covid at bay in a wider sense. The fewer people spread it, the fewer of us can catch it, and the better we’ll be able to navigate a future where everybody feels safe in crowds, and indoors.

Global deaths decline, but China and North Korea are in trouble

Mon, 16 May 2022 14:24:56 GMT

“One million covid deaths, one million empty chairs around the family dinner table, each irreplaceable losses.” US President Joe Biden.

The US has a higher official covid-19 death toll than anywhere else in the world. They have just passed a horrible milestone of 1 million covid deaths so far, although experts say ‘many more deaths are expected to have occurred than have been recorded’. Over there, as well as over here, the pandemic is still happening.

In the UK the number of covid deaths stands at just under 194,000 so far and while the death rate has slowed down, it’s looking likely we’ll hit the 200,000 mark. Worldwide the death toll is around six million two hundred and eighty nine thousand, and counting. Again the real number, rather than the reported number, will ultimately be a lot higher.

Global covid deaths have been declining since March 2022-05-16
The good news? Globally, the number of covid cases reported has been falling since March.

The WHO reveals ‘excess deaths’
A recent report by the WHO, the World Health Organisation, looked into what’s called ‘excess deaths’ from covid. This excess is defined as the number of deaths from any cause in 2020 and 2021 compared to previous years, including death by covid that wasn’t recorded as such, and people who died of other causes because hospitals were full.

It looks like India had the most overall excess deaths. Peru and Russia had the highest excess deaths for their population. And across the EU we’ve seen a total of two million covid deaths.

North Korea suffers covid explosion
Experts are calling it ‘explosive’. Covid has finally found its way into North Korea where six cases have been found, and many more are expected. In the past three weeks or so 350,000 people in North Korea have been treated for ‘fever’.

While it’s hard to know for sure it looks like they’re doing little or no testing for covid, and the country hasn’t reported vaccinating any of its 25 million people. This is particularly worrying because North Korea is a very poor country, the people don’t get enough to eat, are in poor health anyway, and the healthcare system is precarious. All this means the virus could decimate the population.

China told ‘zero tolerance’ won’t work against Omicron

China’s zero tolerance covid policy has come under fire from experts around the world as an impossible goal, simply because Omicron is so very transmissible. At the same time, getting rid of the policy would, according to computer modelling, lead to more than a million and a half deaths, 5.1 million people in hospital, and 15 times more people in intensive care. The model predicts 74% of deaths would be unvaccinated people over 60.

It can take more than two years to recover from covid if you’ve been hospitalised
More than half of those hospitalised with covid suffer from at least one symptom two years later. The study followed 1192 Wuhan residents since early 2020. Previous studies haven’t lasted for this long, making it the longest known follow-up of covid symptoms so far. Over 68% of people said they had at least one long covid symptom six months after leaving hospital, falling to 55% after two years. The most common long-term covid symptom was fatigue or muscle weakness.

Keep people safe, do you bit for a brighter future
Now, more than ever before, it’s really important that we all pull together to keep covid at the lowest possible levels. You can play a vital part by fitting covid killing UVC lights that render the virus harmless in minutes safely, affordably, and quickly. We’re talking just a few minutes. If that sounds good, let’s talk.

Will you attend the Infection Prevention & Control Conference?

Mon, 16 May 2022 14:24:48 GMT

The first Infection Prevention & Control and Healthcare Facilities Management Conference takes place on 10th May 2022 at EICC Edinburgh. It’s all about focusing on improving services to reduce infections.

We’re helping to sponsor the event, being the inventors and suppliers of popular, affordable LED UVC lights designed to kill covid and a host more horrible pathogens quickly, cleanly, and cheaply.

The conference and exhibition is a CPD-accredited collaboration between Knowlex and Scottish Healthcare Governing Bodies. This is Scotland’s first national conference designed to address the challenge of reducing Healthcare Acquired Infections and the challenges facing facilities managers in keeping hospitals open and safe. It has attracted everyone from policymakers to leaders and key-professionals, and the people attending and exhibiting represent every aspect of Scotland’s healthcare infrastructure.

While the sector’s efforts have recently focused on covid, there remains an urgent need to tackle long-standing hospital infections like C-Diff, MRSA, and Gram-Negative Bloodstream infections. There’s also an equally urgent need to tackle the worldwide issue of Antimicrobial Resistance.

The essential people who carry out cleaning, hygiene, portering, waste-management and foodservice are keen to increase their own contribution to the battle against pathogens, and improve their skills in supporting the fight. The conference brings experts in preventing infection together with soft facilities management experts to explore and understand cleaning protocols and infection prevention best practice.

The event also focuses on the latest developments across all the different specialities. And the exhibition part of the event showcases the latest and best cutting edge infection prevention and control innovation, insights, and tech solutions.

As you can imagine we’re delighted to be involved. Here’s why.

About Cool-Tech LED UVC Germicidal Lamps

Our UVC Germicidal Lamps have fast become one of the best options for managing surface infection control.

They’re very affordable
There are no chemicals, refills or residues to deal with
You don’t need a large team of human cleaners, constantly on the job
Unlike other UVC light sources there’s no harmful mercury or potential glass contaminants
The lights’ lifespan is much longer than older UVC technologies
The UV LEDs used are fitted into both static and mobile lamps, easy to fit to any application
They’re silent, powerful and safe
Our products have all been independently tested and rigorously validated
We provide full electrical certification for installation and on-site servicing
Our solution works against all pathogens, viruses, bacteria, germs, moulds and spores, the perfect way to protect people against dangerous microorganisms

Who uses our LED UVC tech?
More than 100 blue chip organisations use our equipment, serviced and maintained by our nationwide service teams. They include NHS trusts, Allied Bakeries, Pirelli, Rolls Royce, Talk Talk, BT, Blue Chip, plus universities, schools, and education trusts. And our THOR UVC is the most powerful UVC Terminal Disinfection robot currently available in the UK. Two great reasons to get in touch to discuss the potential!

If you’re in Scotland, will you be attending the Infection Prevention & Control and Healthcare & facilities Management Conference?

Your business can play a part in the UK’s covid recovery

Mon, 16 May 2022 14:24:45 GMT

Scientists say covid won’t be going away. It’s with us for good now, like flu and norovirus. But it’s clearly worth avoiding covid if you possibly can. And the more of us do what we can to keep it at bay, the better the future will be for everyone.

According to government figures we saw 6,551 new covid cases and 228 new deaths in UK on 6th May. Weekly new cases totalled 83,440 and 1 in 124.4 of us are suffering from covid at the moment. Best of all, we’re seeing reports that the number of new cases is reducing quite quickly.

It looks like we’re entering another fallow period, a time where covid is on the run. And that’s great news. Unless another variant arises and flattens us again, or we see more surges, we could be heading for a safer summer than we’ve had for a couple of years.

On the other hand home grown tourists streaming across the nation for staycations – and visitors from abroad – could see covid spikes developing in popular holiday hotspots. At the same time The Guardian reports how people who have been hospitalised with the virus can suffer from difficulties in thinking ‘comparable in magnitude to ageing 20 years’.

So what can you do, as a business that employs people, maybe an office or factory? What about if you run a business that welcomes the public into the premises? Say a shop, theatre, salon, gym, school, cinema or clinic? Is there anything you can do to help the UK suppress covid through the summer and beyond?

The answer is ‘yes’. Every business can help stop covid in its tracks and therefore help the entire nation. It’s the decent thing to do. And it won’t cost you a fortune to play a vital part in keeping the virus from raising its ugly head above the parapet again.

How do you do that? Easy. Our brilliant hygienic UVC lights are chemical-free. They disinfect any room, of any size, in no time. They are affordable, easy to fit, easy to use, and come with almost no maintenance. And they’re already used by more than 100 blue chip companies of every size.

Thanks to our covid killing lights you’ll play a vital part in the country’s future. Any covid particles breathed out by an infected person will be quickly killed by safe, powerful UVC light, provided via long-lasting, low-energy LED bulbs. The light damages the DNA and RNA inside covid and other viruses and pathogens quickly and efficiently. Because it can’t spread, it’s dead.

Our lights handle much more than covid, though. The particular wavelength of light we use in our hygienic UVC lamps also makes nasties like flu, E. Coli, SARS, MERS, Ebola, norovirus and salmonella inactive without the use of chemicals. Our lamps disinfect surfaces, equipment and the air itself to kill off environmental pathogens. They even take care of horrific hospital acquired infections like MRSA.

There’s a big benefit for your business. Our lights will disinfect every surface in your premises. A single cycle reduces viruses and pathogens dramatically, saving you a fortune in staff healthcare, sick pay, days off, lost production, and less revenue.

So it looks like doing the decent thing comes with all-round financial, social, and economic benefits. If you’d like to take steps to help the UK recover – and stay recovered – get in touch. We’ll be pleased to discuss the potential with you, and provide a quote you’ll love.

The hidden human costs - Revealing the legacy of covid

Fri, 06 May 2022 09:00:05 GMT

The real human cost of covid is beginning to become apparent, and it’s ugly. It looks like this disease is going to have a profound impact on humanity for some time to come.

Stress disorders in people prevented from seeing relatives with covid
Almost 66% of those who weren’t allowed to see their loved ones when hospitalised with covid have developed a stress-related disorder, hinting at an enormous mental health problem to come.

Scientists at the University of Colorado Denver, in the USA, studied 330 relatives three months after a family member was admitted to intensive care with covid. Just under 64% of them scored high on tests to measure PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. This is more than twice the levels seen pre-pandemic, when a very similar study took place.

As one of the team said, “Our findings suggest that visitation restrictions may have inadvertently contributed to a secondary public health crisis, an epidemic of stress-related disorders among family members of ICU patients.”

A very long recovery for 71% of hospitalised covid sufferers
Fewer than a third of us in the UK – 29% – who catch covid and have to go to hospital feel fully recovered a year later. A team at the University of Leicester examined 2320 people who were discharged from hospital after covid. Then they re-assessed them five months later, and re-examined 33% of them a full year after they were discharged.

The common symptoms of fatigue, muscle pain, poor sleep and breathlessness had stuck around in 74% of participants five months later, with 71% still suffering after a year. As one of the team revealed, “The limited recovery from five months to one year after hospitalisation in our study across symptoms, mental health, exercise capacity, organ impairment, and quality-of-life is striking.”

More data about covid recovery
Severe covid is more common for males. But females studied in the research above were 32% less likely to feel fully recovered after a year.

Obesity was linked with 59% of slow recoveries and 58% of people who had been given mechanical ventilation were less likely to feel fully recovered. In the UK, more than 750,000 people have been hospitalised with covid so far. No wonder those who conducted the research predict the “legacy of this disease is going to be huge.”

Unvaccinated? You’re putting vaccinated people at risk
If you’re unvaccinated you’re not only putting yourself at risk. You’re also raising the risk of vaccinated people around you catching covid, even when immunisation rates are high.

Research at the University of Toronto simulated how different levels of population mixing affect the spread of the virus. New infections were high when the simulated groups mixed, revealing how the choices made by those who refuse jabs ‘contribute disproportionately’ to the risk for those who have been jabbed.

The future remains uncertain
Restrictions come and restrictions go. But the virus is still out there. If you want to protect your workforce, keep your customers safe, keep yourself healthy and avoid any future court cases around leaving people vulnerable to covid on your premises, our LED UVC lights are affordable, powerful, simple to fit and come with almost no maintenance. Thanks to us, the air and surfaces at your place will stay clean and safe.

The world steadily goes covid-blind - Should we worry?

Wed, 04 May 2022 09:00:05 GMT

The number of official covid cases is declining across every continent, according to the WHO. So what’s the overall picture right now?

South Africa has just announced it’s about to enter a fifth wave of covid, seeing many more infections thanks to the new omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants we talked about last week. The nation only came out from under its fourth wave three months ago but new cases have been on the up since mid-April. On 25th April alone the seven day new cases average doubled.

These new ‘sublineages’ account for 50% of all South Africa’s cases at the moment. Both of them are more transmissible than BA.2 and while hospitalisations are also rising, it’s good to know that intensive care admissions and deaths are stable.

The world slowly goes covid-blind
Reduced testing across the globe means the world is going “increasingly blind to patterns of transmission and evolution” of covid. As their Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “As many countries reduce testing, WHO is receiving less and less information about transmission and sequencing.” This means anything could happen and we won’t have much warning. Imagine an unusually dangerous new variant that spreads far and wide before being identified...

If you’re at risk of severe covid you’re also at risk of...
It looks like some of the ‘genetic variants’ that make some people suffer worse bouts of covid also increase their risk of other conditions like heart disease, blood clots and type 2 diabetes. On the other hand the genetic variants that cause auto-immune conditions, where the immune system attacks the body – things like rheumatoid arthritis – come with a lower risk of severe covid. The US study should help scientists develop future treatments for covid.

Denmark stops vaccinating
1st February saw Denmark being the first EU nation to drop all covid restrictions after saying covid was no longer a ‘critical threat’. Now Denmark has stopped vaccinating people. Apparently it’s a temporary move thanks to high levels of immunisation, a sharp fall in cases, and hospitalisation rates stabilising. But they say they’ll resume vaccinating in the autumn. Right now more than 82% of Danes are fully jabbed, defined as having had two vaccinations.

Hospitalised with omicron? It’s serious
Some say omicron is milder than delta. A new study disagrees. It looks like people hospitalised with the omicron variant need similar levels of respiratory support and intensive care to people hospitalised with delta. The research, in the USA, involved more than 2000 people who tested positive for covid. The results revealed:

DELTA: 73% of people hospitalised with delta needed extra oxygen and 25% needed intensive care
OMICRON: 67% of people hospitalised with omicron needed extra oxygen and 17% needed intensive care

On the bright side, people with omicron were less likely to be hospitalised in the first place, whether they’ve been jabbed or not. Just 3% of those with omicron were admitted to hospital, compared with 13% of those with delta. But as one of the research team said, “omicron patients who did need hospitalisation faced a risk of severe disease comparable to those hospitalised with delta. For many people, it is not a mild infection at all.”

Is covid going away in places like Denmark?
The virus is definitely falling back in some countries, but in others it is surging ahead. This means there’s still a high risk of a more infectious or dangerous variant arising somewhere in the world. A lack of travel restrictions means it’ll spread fast, far, and wide. Because testing seems to be falling back, with fewer tests done around the world and in some cases no information being collected, we risk having no real idea what’s going on.

The clever money? It’s on technology like ours, which safeguards people brilliantly and cuts the risk of transmission right down. If you could buy tech for a very reasonable price that killed more than 99% of the virus in the air and on surfaces, would you invest in it? If so, let’s talk.

How to avoid covid in a world without masks or social distancing

Tue, 03 May 2022 11:04:25 GMT

The enormous covid spike we’ve been seeing since the restrictions were lifted seems to be easing, which is a relief. During the seven days before Friday 22nd April, we saw almost 186,000 new cases, down 6% on the previous week but still a huge number. At the same time we also saw 1,965 people die last week, up 19.5% on the week before, which means there isn’t anything to celebrate.

So far, in total, 173,352 people in the UK have died within 28 days of a positive covid test since the pandemic began and 190,124 people in the UK have ‘covid’ listed as the cause of death on their death certificates.
These are horrible numbers. Each one represents a person loved by their family and friends, someone who is sadly missed. Worldwide, the deaths stack up to a total of 6,243,513.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has removed its Level 4: Special Circumstances/Do Not Travel designation completely. Now it has been ‘reserved for countries with special circumstances, including rapidly escalating case numbers or the emergence of a new variant of concern’. It’s interesting to see the UK remaining at the organisation’s Level 3 Covid-19: High level, revealing the USA is still wary about the UK’s covid situation.

It clearly isn’t safe out there, especially for the vulnerable and those who are determined not to catch the virus.

Masks and distancing have mostly gone out of the window
If you’ve been out and about recently, you’ll see very few people wearing masks. Social distancing seems to have gone out of the window. For those who haven’t had covid and are doing their best to avoid it, and those who are at more risk than average, it’s not a good situation to be in. Shops feel risky, crowds feel frightening, it’s a challenge being safe.

Do we risk creating a two-tier society where some people feel unable to enjoy life as they used to before covid, because they just don’t feel safe out there? Potentially.

This is your covid challenge
If you would like to help everyone who encounters your business feel safe, therefore maximising your audience and your revenue, you could spend a fortune on cleaners and chemicals. But the sheer frequency and amount of cleaning you’d need to do would keep a team of cleaners busy all day, with a wage bill to match. And you can’t disinfect the air with cleaning products, which means the main way the virus spreads – through tiny droplets in the air – isn’t covered by ordinary cleaning.

You could impose strict distancing and mask-wearing on your premises but because very few others are doing it these days, you could lose business that way. So how do you keep everyone safe from covid in a fast, affordable and practical way?

How to keep all your customers, employees and visitors safe from covid
It seems to make a lot more sense to spend a little money to save a fortune and do a top job. Use our LED UVC lights. They do a great job of keeping people safe from covid effectively in a way that has been proven by science time and time again.

They come with almost no maintenance and are extremely economical to run because of the highly energy efficient LED UVC light bulbs we use. There’s a choice of anti covid UVC lamps for different circumstances, which work in slightly different ways. They’re easy to fit, and doing so will give your employees, customers, and anyone else who visits your premises the protection they deserve from covid.

And when the next coronavirus pandemic comes along, which scientists say is a certainty? You’ll be ahead of the curve. If you’d like to find out more, have a chat with a professional or get a quote for your premises, we’ll be pleased to help. Feel free to contact us.

The latest covid news and covid science

Tue, 03 May 2022 11:04:24 GMT

Is it going up or is it going down? Covid cases are in flux around the world at the moment, with some countries experiencing surges and others experiencing fewer cases. But the picture is muddied by different nations’ approaches to lockdowns, restrictions, masks, distancing, and testing. There’s also news about an enhanced covid risk for people who live with air pollution. Let’s take a look at the global covid picture for week four April 2022.

Covid cases drop worldwide... or do they?
On 21st April global cases decreased by 24% week on week, with around 5 million new covid cases were reported worldwide between 11th and 17th April. Is this 100% good news or is there bad news hidden in there somewhere?

The reduction has taken place in all of the six regions monitored by the WHO. The biggest drop is in the Western Pacific, with a 28% week on week fall. At the same time covid deaths fell by 12% across the world.

The WHO, however, continues to recommend caution. They say changing testing regimes mean there are fewer cases being detected in the first place, which means it could be a misleading result. England has scrapped free universal testing, while rules around free tests changing elsewhere. In some countries, for example Northern Ireland, tests are still more widely available.

India detects new variants
Bengaluru is the capital and the biggest city of the Indian state of Karnataka, home to more than 8 million people. Two new variants of covid have been detected there and the wider state’s Test Positivity Rate has just exceeded 1%, the highest for over a month. The BA.2.10 and BA.2.12 sub variants found there are related to the Omicron sub-variant BA.2.

The mutant variant XE is also loose in India, more transmissible than Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, especially among people who have been vaccinated. Unvaccinated children are catching it too, but apparently the symptoms are mild. XE was first detected in the UK but is now being reported elsewhere. XE was found in England during January 2022. The variant is spreading via community transmission, with most cases in eastern England, London, and the South East. The growth rate of these variants is 12.6% more than BA.2. XE has turned up in Japan as well, brought in by a woman travelling from the USA.

WHO tracks two more new variants
The WHO is also tracking two more new omicron sub-variants called BA.4 and BA.5, to check whether they’re more infectious, more dangerous, or both. They both have ‘additional mutations’ that need to be studied and understood. So far they have turned up in South Africa, Scotland, England, Botswana and Denmark, in fully vaccinated people aged 30-50, and the symptoms appear ‘mild’.

Exposure to air pollution makes it more likely you’ll catch covid
A team led by Zhebin Yu at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden studies people aged on average 25 who tested positive between May 2020 and March 2021. It looks like exposure to ‘airborne particulate matter and black carbon, also known as soot’ may increase our risk of catching covid.

Ask us a question about low cost covid disinfection
Covid disinfection using LED UVC light fittings is changing the way we live with covid. In fact it’s hard to see how we can live with covid effectively and safely without making an effort to keep business premises, employees, visitors and customers as safe as possible as the pandemic rumbles on into its third year.

Do you have any questions about the world-leading ability of UVC light to disinfect the air and every surface it touches? If so we’ll provide answers. It’s the best way to stay safe and keep others safe as well.

UK approves a sixth covid vaccine – Hello, Valneva!

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 08:00:04 GMT

We are still in an “acute phase of the pandemic”, as the more transmissible omicron variant and its sublineages spread across the world. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO.

The UK has approved another covid vaccine, Valneva, this time containing an entire inactivated covid virus. It can be stored in an ordinary fridge for up to a year, which means it’s a lot more convenient and practical than other vaccines. The mRNA vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, for example, have to be stored at -20°C, and can only be stored for a maximum of six months frozen. Once defrosted they only have a short useful life. Oxford/AstraZeneca can also be stored at higher temperatures.

Bahrain was the first to approve it for emergency use in March this year. The UK is the first in Europe to sign on the dotted line. The decision follows a promising study in 2021, where two doses of the new Valneva jab, 28 days apart, provided 40% more neutralising antibodies than Oxford/AstraZeneca. The rate of covid infections was similar between the two groups, with no severe disease in any of the 4012 participants. The vaccine is approved for people aged 18 – 50, with two doses taken at least 28 days apart.

At the same time Pfizer’s chief executive says they will develop a covid vaccine that protects people against all known variants by the end of 2022. And that will be very good news indeed.

More covid news for week 3 April 2022

People with an increased risk of heart disease are as much as 600% more likely to die from covid

People with more than 10% risk of stroke or heart attack over the next decade are nearly three times more likely to be admitted to intensive care with covid.

The USA has just extended its public health emergency, which was due to end on 16th April

More than 500 million covid cases have been recorded globally since the outbreak – but the real number will be a lot higher

The number of new worldwide cases has been falling... or has it? Experts put the fall down to ‘reduced testing and a subsequent underreporting of cases’

Israel has analysed its booster campaign to find the timing of booster roll-outs is crucial to preventing surges, especially when infections are ‘growing exponentially’

In England we’ve seen a 26% week-on-week reduction in new cases

Medics are investigating a potential surge in liver inflammation – also called hepatitis – in UK children, with 74 cases so far in 2022. Some say it might be a rare delayed reaction to covid infection

Heart inflammation after a jab is probably no more likely than after any other kind of vaccination – the research continues

Two new subvariants of omicron, BA.4 ad BA.5, are being examined to check they’re no more infectious or dangerous than the others, and whether they can evade immunity better

Have you seen our post about the latest Far UVC and UVC disinfection news? It’s inspiring. Take a look, then give us a call to begin your journey to better covid safety.

Our covid future

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 14:35:14 GMT

Time magazine focuses on clean air

Shocking numbers of people are still dying from covid in the UK, the USA and many other nations that have effectively let the virus run wild. As the pandemic continues, Time magazine has joined a growing number of publications, businesses and scientists starting to demand that we clean up our indoor air, and finally do it properly.

The good news is the pandemic will eventually end thanks to a blend of vaccines, infection-induced immunity, and personal safety measures. The bad news is we have a very long way to go, covid will probably stick around for decades or a great deal longer, like the common cold and flu. And, of course, this will not be the last respiratory virus pandemic. That’s a given.

Time magazine appeals for nations to ‘think clearly and scientifically’ about how to stop viruses like covid spreading indoors, especially where people have decided against masks. Sadly there are loads of rogue products around that cannot and will never work, with no scientific basis. Testing isn’t properly controlled, it is biased, it doesn’t compare itself to existing tech and doesn’t take place in real-world conditions. Happily there are some indoor air cleaning technologies that work beautifully. The challenge is to know the difference. Let’s take a look.

Facts about cleaning the air indoors so covid can’t spread
Many products claim 99.9% or more reductions in virus particles but they ‘compare test organism concentrations in air before and after passing through a device but not what happens in a room where the device would be used, which is all that matters in the long run’. Much of the time the test data isn’t available. It’s worrying that the rate at which decontamination occurs in rooms isn’t often mentioned. A device might say it achieves 99.9% but the fine print says the test was conducted over 24 hrs, no use at all when you’re in a room with someone who’s infected.

Clearance in minutes is the only way ahead for properly-cleaned indoor air. As you can imagine virus particles almost always stick around for longer indoors where the air doesn’t move and isn’t exchanged for fresh. If you breathe in an indoor setting where other people are also breathing, you will almost certainly breathe in some air that has just been breathed out by someone else. The percentage of recycled air in a room – the ‘rebreathed air fraction’ – is a good way to predict the risk of infection.

Ventilation is the main way to cut the risk of airborne infection indoors
For hospital airborne infection isolation the OS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says you need 6 – 12 room air changes per hour. Air changes remove contaminants but it’s also important to factor in the virus that gets added back in when infected people enter a space. The infectiousness of the virus also matters – the more infectious it is, the more air changes you need to keep indoor air safe. Experts say 6 – 12 air changes an hour might not be enough to stop the fast-spreading omicron from infecting people.

About older buildings without mechanical ventilation
Mechanical ventilation is designed for comfort, not infection control. It can’t achieve the air changes needed to combat the virus. Older buildings without mechanical ventilation can maybe achieve one air change an hour even with the window shut, simply because of draughts. Open windows can take the rate much higher. But windows are usually closed either by the occupants or the owners because of the weather, and the cost of heating or cooling the space. Because automated mechanical ventilation systems often only exchange small amounts of outside air, most of the air is re-circulated along with the contaminants it contains.

The relationship between ventilation and infection is interesting. Doubling the ventilation rate only cuts the contaminants by about half. When air contaminants are low, you need a lot more air movement to dilute and remove them. And the bigger fans, blowers, ventilation ducts and more you need to do the job are costly. Because the omicron variant requires ‘very high ventilation rates’ ordinary mechanical ventilation in public spaces isn’t enough.

What about other ways to disinfect against covid?
High-efficiency air filters can ensure less than 99.9% of dangerous particles is sent back into rooms. Adding UV, bipolar ions or cold plasma doesn’t make much difference. We already know that air recirculation in ventilation ducts isn’t helping covid spread. If you’re in a room with an infected person and the air will only be decontaminated after it has left the room, it’s not much help to you.

It makes more sense to quickly decontaminate the air in the room itself, where the transmission risk exists. And that’s why air-disinfection technology’s ‘enhanced in-room air decontamination’ is such good news. Increased ventilation, portable air cleaners, upper air germicidal UV and Far UV are all proven to be highly effective. While Ion generators work too, there’s much less evidence to back them up. More about that later.

Natural ventilation can be very effective indeed but you can’t open the windows in bad weather and still conditions mean there’s very little natural air movement anyway. Some buildings don’t even have windows that open. If the air outdoors is polluted, opening the windows comes with other health issues.

Portable room air cleaner effectiveness depends on the flow rate of air compared to the room volume, and the air flow patterns in the room. Much of the time these gadgets are simply too small to be any use. When the right size, they’re often far too big for the space. Many room air cleaners are noisy and make the place draughty. If they achieve at least 6 air changes an hour they can be effective.

Germicidal UV lamps have been used for over 80 years, both proven and safe. Upper room GUV floods the air at the top of the room to rapidly inactivate viruses. When the disinfected air mixes with lower air the overall air quality is better, achieving ‘high rates of air disinfection in the lower, occupied room’. GUV is used widely in countries where TB is endemic. Before antibiotics arrived it was the go-to tech in healthcare settings, and it’s being used a lot more widely in covid times.

Far UV is 222 nm wavelength UV. It is ‘equally or more effective’ against airborne viruses and bacteria, but it can’t damage people’s eyes or skin. It’s safer than conventional UV with not even mild eye or skin irritation and no risk of skin cancer like you get from the sun. Far UV is currently being used in bars, salons, restaurants, lifts, homeless shelters, nightclubs, and other ‘high contact’ settings. There are even military applications.

GUV is unusually cost-effective
Compared to mechanical ventilation and room-air cleaners, GUV is cheaper and much more effective. It cleans loads of air at once, as much as 24 exchanges per hour in one controlled hospital study in South Africa, well beyond the capacity of most mechanical ventilation systems and room-air cleaners. The same results were seen in a test in Russia, where GUV came in at around 9.4 times more cost effective for the same amount of air. No wonder the US Department of Energy is supporting the commercial development and deployment of LED UV technology for disinfecting air and surfaces.

Make sure you buy proven LED UVC air cleaning technology
Not all GUV devices on the market are equal. Some just don’t work. Too many GUV devices for businesses and homes aren’t ‘evidence-based and are unlikely to be effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission’. If you see one for sale that goes around your neck, step away. There’s no way it can work, no scientific basis for it. The little boxes that are meant to disinfect mobile phones are just as useless. And GUV wands are so ineffective they’re described as ‘ irrational’. The GUV portals designed to disinfect people on the way into buildings are equally bad. They don’t make any sense since there’s no significant decontamination of skin or clothing and the virus, which lives inside us, can’t be eliminated from the outside. And there’s no point disinfecting the air outdoors, since the wind does that all on its own.

Ionization, as we’ve mentioned, comes with serious problems. The mechanism isn’t understood very well, which raises alarm bells. There are very few published independent studies. One, in Peru, revealed a basic ionization system was about half as effective as upper room UVC. But the room the study took place in was blackened with soot, ionised so it stuck to surfaces. Ionization can also make ozone from oxygen, which is dangerous and can lead to other toxic chemical reactions.

The experts recommend...
Indoors, air disinfection is a safe and efficient way to reduce covid’s spread. Combining the big three - mechanical ventilation, upper room GUV, and portable room air cleaners – makes a lot of sense.

The most effective of all is upper room UV, and it’s also the most cost-effective. It is ‘demonstrably safe and readily available to deploy today’. Far UV is also available, even safer and potentially more effective since it works around people and doesn’t depend on the air being mixed. Room air cleaners also have a role, in small spaces where the air can be exchanged at least 6 times an hour.

Getting ready now doesn’t just mean you future-proof your business against covid. It also means you’re in a good position to handle seasonal respiratory viruses, ongoing epidemics like TB, and the next pandemic.
As we all now know for sure, there will be another. It’s just a matter of when.

Why covid herd immunity remains highly unlikely

Sat, 16 Apr 2022 07:00:03 GMT

In Africa more than 66% of people have had covid. That’s 97 times more than the reported number of cases, according to the WHO. They estimate around 800 million people had been infected by September 2021. The number of reported cases was just 8.2 million.

Because the virus keeps replicating, it’s easy to catch it more than once. In fact almost everyone in Iran has had covid at least once. So how does the theory of herd immunity stack up in the situation we’re in right now?

Herd immunity is when so many people are immune to a virus that it can’t spread. This protects everyone, including people who aren’t immune. So is there such a thing as herd immunity from covid, and are we anywhere near it? Scientists say it’s unlikely to be soon and might not be possible at all.

At its simplest, herd immunity marks the point where everyone with covid infects less than one other person. Infections decrease and occasional cases don’t spread far. This, in theory, should be possible via vaccination or past infection. Both give you some immunity from re-infection. Smallpox, for example, was finally killed off for good in 1980 after a worldwide vaccination campaign.

On the other hand, even if 90% of us have all our jabs, no vaccine is 100% effective. The vaccines we have are brilliant but they don’t block infections completely. Some vaccinated people still pass covid on. It looks like our current vaccines are up to 79% effective against symptomatic infection from the delta variant, for example.

The thing is, herd immunity isn’t that simple. The risks vary depending on how much social contact people and their communities have, the age you first catch covid, the state of your immune system, how good any existing immunity you may have is, and your genetics.

In a landscape like this the only real way to reach herd immunity is via ‘extremely effective’ vaccines that provide ‘near-sterilising immunity’, where the uptake of the vaccine is very high and the virus is completely prevented from replicating. This means, as it stands, it would take an ‘impossible feat’ of vaccinating 100% of the UK population to achieve herd immunity.

But doesn’t immunity build slowly over time as people gain natural immunity of their own after infection? Sadly not. Covid immunity doesn’t last long. Re-infection is entirely possible. And variants can evolve to avoid existing immunity. Because vaccine roll-out across the world hasn’t been fair, with many countries – mostly poor ones – falling way behind, even a country with high vaccination rates will see surges in cases when people from other countries bring covid back in. Think measles in the UK and you get the picture.

The conclusion? There’s “no chance of ever reaching herd immunity for covid” , something many scientists are unanimous about. It is very unlikely indeed that the UK will ever reach herd immunity. Instead it’ll probably become endemic, like flu, turning up every winter.

The only way out? Thomas House at the University of Manchester says we’d either need to achieve more than 95% vaccine coverage in everyone over 12 and add an annual booster, or come up with a vaccine that brings about ‘sterilising immunity’.

According to New Scientist magazine this means that nobody, least of all politicians, should rely on herd immunity for total protection against an illness that is potentially deadly and often has long-term impacts on our health.

You need far UVC virus sterilisation
More than two years after the first lockdown, the case for Far UVC sterilisation indoors is even stronger than ever. We make affordable, highly effective, low maintenance covid killing lights that are cheap to run and work incredibly well to keep people safe from covid infection.

Covid isn’t going away. It’s time to invest in your business’ future, keep your customers safe, and look after your employees for the long haul. Let’s discuss what we can do for you.

New covid health risks

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 14:45:04 GMT

UVC covid killing technology takes off

Did you know your risk of a potentially life-threatening lung clot increases 33 times within a month of being infected by covid?

A team at Umea University in Sweden kept an eye on over a million people who’d tested positive for the virus, for nine months. Then they compared the health outcomes of those who’d had covid to 4 million people who hadn’t caught it. The results are worrying, and the news marks yet another unexpected outcome for a virus that too many people still think isn’t any worse than a common cold.

Regardless of how bad or mild your symptoms are your risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) within 30 days of infection increases five times. And it stays that high for around six months. This can cause a pulmonary embolism, blocking blood flow to the lungs and potentially killing you. While the risk was highest for people who’d had a bad dose of covid, even a mild case left people with a three times higher risk of DVT and seven times more at risk from a pulmonary embolism.

As one expert, Frederick Ho at the University of Glasgow, told The Guardian . “Despite the potential for new variants of concern, most governments are removing restrictions and shifting their focus to determining how best to live with covid. This study reminds us of the need to remain vigilant to the complications associated with even mild Sars-CoV-2 infection”.

In a time like this it’s great to know that our UVC covid killing technology is taking off, with more organisations using it and more studies proving how effective it is in killing covid safely, both when people are in a space and when it’s empty. Take a look at our FAQ if you like, see how it all works.
Read on to find out about the latest news about the power of Far UVC light in keeping us safe from covid.

LED UVC covid killing technology saves the day – The latest research
According to one news source in Boston , USA, the city’s drinking water is already treated with UV light, as are the city’s hospitals and surgical rooms. Now the Greater Boston Food Bank is going to use a UVC emitting robot to disinfect surfaces and kill airborne virus particles, built by MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Cambridge-based firm AVA Robotics. As one of their scientists says, “Research shows that ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, specifically shining UVC light at different surfaces, can neutralize and kill various microorganisms.”

MIT reckons its UV robot will neutralise 90% of the coronavirus and ‘could potentially work in many other large spaces’. They suggest grocery stores, schools, office buildings, hotels, and anywhere else where it’s wise to ‘reduce the risk of exposure’ between people.

In New York City there’s already a pilot underway to disinfect buses and subway carriages using portable UVC lamps, and the same goes for buses in Shanghai.

More new findings confirm the power of UVC as a covid killer
Search Google for ‘covid and UVC’ and there are fresh results popping up every day at the moment. Here are just a few of the reports we’ve come across:

The Sun reports on a light bulb that can kill off airborne diseases in the home
MSN reports far UVC research into lamps that kill bacteria and more safely
Fox News talks about using UVC to prevent indoor transmission of airborne pathogens without harming humans
NDNR mentions using Far UVC light to sanitise indoor air
India Education Diary reports on Columbia University’s findings around UVC disinfection making indoor air as safe as outdoors
Innovators magazine covers the UVC tech that stops covid spreading indoors
MSN mentions how far UVC light could help humanity prevent the next pandemic

When is the right time to invest in UVC covid killer technology? The answer is ‘now’. If you’d like to know more, we’ll be pleased to talk things through with you.

Latest covid headlines

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 14:44:38 GMT

How’s the UK doing?

In a week when the NHS has added nine new signs to its list of coronavirus symptoms, and the UK suffers the most cases since the pandemic began, how is the nation doing? Is the UK keeping its people safe or are relaxed measures putting more of us at risk than ever?

9 new covid symptoms listed by the NHS
Originally there were just three symptoms to officially look out for. Now the NHS has added another nine to a growing list of potential signs you’re infected. At the same time free lateral flow tests have been axed and the guidance for self isolation has changed. As an adult testing positive, you’re supposed to stay home for five days and avoid high risk people for ten days.

Here’s the latest NHS list of potential covid symptoms.

Either a high temperature or chills
A new continuous cough where you cough a lot for more than an hour or have three bad coughing sessions in 24 hours
You lose your sense of smell or taste, or it changes so things taste or smell odd
Shortness of breath
Feeling unusually tired
Aching body, headaches, sore throats, blocked or runny nose
Lost appetite
Diarrhoea
Feeling or actually being sick

As you can see these are very similar to the way you can feel when you catch a cold or flu, but colds and flu don’t come with the risk of Long Covid.

Record-breaking numbers of covid cases in the UK
4.9 million people in the UK have covid at the moment. It’s a record breaker of the worst kind. The number of hospital patients with covid is also on the way up although it’s less than it was in earlier waves. Right now 90% of people aged 12 and over have had their first jabs. Official numbers reveal over 165,000 of us have died in the UK thanks to covid.

Covid test results lab fail
Immensa Labs in Wolverhampton has sent out 43,000 false negative covid test results over a month in 2021, right across South West England. The people they said were clear were actually infected. More people have ended up infected as a result of the mistakes, more people were hospitalised, and more have died.

How come so many of us are catching covid a second time?
More of us than ever are catching covid for a second time. It’s partly because omicron is pretty good at getting past vaccine defences. It’s also a statistics thing. Because so many of us have already been infected in the first place, more of us are getting it twice. And it’s clear the effect of vaccines is steadily waning. Many thousands of people in the UK have been suffering from Long Covid for two years now, still struggling to cope. While there’s some hope on the horizon thanks to countless studies around the world designed to figure out why it’s happening and design treatments and cures, the end is nowhere near for Long Covid sufferers.

Luckily the experts say getting Covid twice in a short space of time is still fairly unlikely, even the extra-infectious omicron. And there’s some good news – most second-timers won’t feel as ill as they did the first time around.

What does all this news mean? It’s just as important – if not more important than ever – to secure your business premises to keep your employees, visitors and customers safe from the virus. Our UVC LED tech does exactly that for a surprisingly reasonable cost.

The new omicron variant XE and the threat of ‘recombinant’ variants

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 14:44:37 GMT

Have you heard about the new omicron variant ‘XE’? It has turned up in the UK and it’s doing the rounds. But the experts say it's too early to predict the new sub-variant’s impact. Right now the UK Health Security Agency is ‘looking at the XE variant’, a mutation of BA.1 and BA.2 omicron and what scientists call a 'recombinant'. It may or may not be more transmissible than previous versions – we just don’t know yet.

The Health Security Agency says they found 637 cases of XE in England during March, a tiny percentage of the tens of thousands of daily cases we’re seeing right now. They say, so far, it looks like ‘initial growth rates’ for XE were not much different from BA.2. But the latest data looks a bit more worrying, with a potential 10% bigger infection rate than BA.2, itself nicknamed the ‘stealth variant’ because it spreads so fast. The truth? The jury is still out. So far there isn’t enough data to draw conclusions about the recombinant’s transmissibility, severity, or how well vaccines work against it.

On the down-side there are no legal restrictions left in England and the country’s need to self-isolate has gone. This has led to a massive, record-breaking surge in new cases. Right now an estimated 1 in 13 people in England has covid, with Scotland and Wales not far behind. 4.9 million of us had covid during the week ending 26th March, up from 4.3 million the week before. On the bright side, recombinant variants are fairly common and usually die off quickly.

What is virus recombination?
Recombination happens when one cell is infected with two related viruses at the same time, which then mix as they reproduce. We’ve seen ‘dozens’ of these in recent weeks. The process often means major genetic mistakes are made, which means the new combined virus can’t reproduce. But the combinations can also be worse, for example a lot more transmissible. While covid probably started recombining ‘very early’ in the pandemic, it remains a risky thing. The less it happens, the better for all of us.

Here’s an example of how it works. The initial wave of omicron, caused by the BA.1 omicron subvariant, kicked off when delta was still widespread. High case numbers meant a lot of people were infected with delta and BA.1 at the same time, therefore creating more risk of recombination. We’ve already seen several delta-BA.1 recombinants called ‘deltacron’.

A lot of people will have been infected by BA.1 and BA.2 at the same time to create six new named recombinants: XE, XG, XH, XJ, XK and XL. The XD and XF recombinants are both of some interest to scientists but it looks like XF might already have died out. It hasn’t been found anywhere in the world since February this year. There’s XD present in parts of Europe but it’s predicted to be less transmissible than BA.2.

Right now BA.2 has overtaken BA.1 in many places, and because covid restrictions have been relaxed we’re seeing a second omicron wave.

Should we worry?
The biggest worry of all is a completely new variant with ‘novel’ mutations and the ability to evade people’s previous immunity. This could be evolving ‘unseen’ as we write. So what’s the worst case scenario? The UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies says the most dangerous thing of all would be a covid variant that recombines with a human common cold coronavirus or animal coronavirus to create something ‘unexpected and dangerous’. Thankfully it’s not likely, simply because distantly related viruses are less likely to recombine into a pathogen that actually works.

Flu is a good example of what can happen when viruses recombine. When flu recombines it usually creates much more dangerous viruses. Animal flu strains like bird flu and swine flu can also be deadly to people but don’t often spread between humans, just between animals to people. If there’s ever a recombination of human and animal flu viruses that easily spreads from person to person, and remains lethal, the resulting pandemic could make covid look like child’s play.

UVC LED covid killing tech to the rescue
This thing isn’t going away. Businesses must bite the bullet and do everything they can to keep people safe. Our lights kill coronaviruses. You need our lights! Let’s talk.

How the pandemic isn’t over …

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:00:04 GMT

And it won’t be ‘any time soon’

There’s plenty of uncertainty. But three things are very clear, at least to the scientists around the globe who are working so hard to fight the pandemic:

This current wave will not be the last
We live in a global economy, which means we can’t expect to deal with the pandemic in only one part of the world without seeing an impact elsewhere
Ultimately, the only way to prevent new variants is to stop covid spreading

Taking these three key points into account it’s clear we’re in trouble. The UK government remains keen to keep everything open and running but we’re already seeing severe spikes in new infections and hints of a return to the bad old days of increasing hospitalisation rates.

As you’ll know if you’re keeping tabs on friends via Facebook, thousands of people in the UK who have managed to steer clear of the virus so far seem to be finally catching it, probably because so many people have decided to forgo masks and distancing in public spaces.

At the end of January the massive worldwide omicron wave had started to fall back. Now cases are on the up again. Omicron’s second wave is well underway thanks to the even-more-infectious BA.2 subvariant doing the rounds right now. The fact that so many countries have dropped measures to contain covid is helping it spread even faster.

What happens when more people catch covid? It’s a common sense thing – we stand an even greater risk of deadly variants evolving.

The emergence of fast-spreading variants like BA.2, the so-called Stealth Variant, isn’t really being taken seriously in England, which vaccinated strongly and early but has now dropped restrictions, assuming vaccines will keep deaths and hospitalisations low even as cases rocket. Places that dodged a high death toll in the first place, like Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Hong Kong, were successful for a while but the more transmissible new variants have let the virus break through. This means they’ll have to refocus on vaccination.

Vaccines perform differently, which is itself a problem. China’s vaccines, for example, are less effective at preventing infections than the mRNA vaccines used elsewhere. This fosters inequality. Worse still, vaccination around the world has been patchy and unequal. ‘Dozens’ of countries have vaccinated less than 10% of their people, which puts the whole world at risk.

So what do the scientists say about the latest BA.2 wave? The way things will play out depends entirely on what the world’s different countries do next. One thing we know for sure – opening everything up at the same time as a surge in new cases is never going to be a wise idea.

As we mentioned at the start of this article, ultimately, “the only way to prevent new variants is to prevent the spread of the virus.” As we sail into the third year of the pandemic, the governments of the world are still on the same dangerous track, focusing on themselves rather than on the wider world. Until we start treating the people of the world the same, with a global vaccination strategy that focuses on equality, we’ll never escape from covid. And we could see things becoming an awful lot worse.

In a landscape like this, you need UVC covid killing lights to keep people safe and minimise the number of new covid cases. Do it for yourself, your loved ones, your business, your country, the people of the world, and for all our sakes.

UK covid cases rise again…

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 10:54:10 GMT

How to stay safe from covid

Just six days ago the media reported UK covid cases more than doubling in a month and daily deaths up 22%. Five days ago they reported covid cases in the UK breaching the 100,000 a day mark again, with a daily rise of 12%. A drop in cases the day before was later put down to a ‘technical error’.

Three days ago the news reported daily cases falling 14% in the previous 7 days but hospitalisations jumping 17% to the highest level in months. Three days ago we had reports of London cases going up 28% in a week. And the latest real-world data reveals vaccine immunity is starting to drop off for the oldest and most vulnerable groups, those who had their booster jabs more than 15 weeks ago.

As Sky News said, “A combination of three factors - waning vaccine immunity, more social contacts and a new strain of Omicron - has led to a surge in COVID cases and an increase in the number of older people being admitted to hospital.”

More UK experts are saying the end of free covid testing could put vulnerable people at serious risk. At the same time we’re seeing increasing appeals from medical experts and scientists for people to wear masks inside and meet outside once more.

Even if you take an optimistic look at the trends we’re seeing right now, things are looking very uncertain indeed. No wonder more people are asking key queries around covid safety. How do I stay safe from covid, how to keep my family safe from covid, how to keep customers safe from covid, and how to protect employees against covid, they’re all valid questions. Luckily there’s one simple answer, a solution more businesses are adopting as time goes by.

How to stay safe from covid? It’s a UVC thing
We’ve been providing highly effective, very practical and unusually affordable UVC covid killing light tech from the start. The technology has been used in hospitals and other healthcare settings for decades, now it’s coming into its own to protect people from covid. We’re seeing a stream of new and ongoing research proving the point, revealing time and time again the tech’s safety and effectiveness.

This week there’s new research from Columbia University Medical Center in the USA along with scientists at the University of St. Andrews, University of Dundee, and the University of Leeds, UK. As an article on MSN about the study says:

“Researchers say the technology represents a new 'hands off' way of curbing the spread of COVID-19, compared to existing control measures that involve significant changes in people's behavior – such as abiding by lockdowns, physical distancing, mask-wearing, or getting vaccinated.”

In contrast to the challenges of these effective but often unpopular measures, installing Far-UVC lighting in indoor environments could be about as easy as changing a light bulb, scientists say – and the effectiveness of the device's antimicrobial radiation is no less impressive. Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active microbes in the indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air.”

The Daily Mail reports on the same study, quoting the author Professor David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. As he says, “Using this technology in locations where people gather together indoors could prevent the next potential pandemic. Far-UVC light is simple to install, it's inexpensive, it doesn't need people to change their behaviour, and above all it's a safe way to prevent the transmission of any virus, including the Covid virus and its variants, as well as influenza and also any potential future pandemic viruses.”

All this means covid safety via far-UVC light is well on the way to going mainstream. With more new studies being concluded every week around the world, the question how to avoid covid in indoor spaces is a lot less tricky than it used to be. We know how to keep ourselves, our employee, customers, visitors and suppliers safe, and that means you can also help to keep your family safe from covid.

The more businesses adopt the Far UVC solution, the faster they do it, the safer we will all be in the public places and workspaces where we were previously very vulnerable. Even more importantly, and thinking unselfishly, the more we can reduce the number of people who catch covid across the world, in every country, the more likely we will be to finally stop this thing in its tracks.

Interested in affordable covid protection with UVC? Get in touch with us for the details.

The UK: “About as far from following the science as you can get”

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 08:00:05 GMT

Just under 400,000 of us in the UK tested positive for covid between 5th and 11th March, an increase of 56.3% on the previous seven days. Covid hospital cases rose almost 17% and while deaths are going up more slowly, there’s a distinct surge in cases and it’s all down to the more transmissible omicron sublineage BA.2 variant.

At the same time the government has been widely criticised for getting rid of England’s React study at the end of March. One expert called the idea “about as far from ‘following the science’ as you can get”. Another scientist said the government was “turning off the headlights at the first sight of dawn”.

A fourth jab might be on the cards for people aged 75 or more in England with a suppressed immune system or living in a care home. Some scientists say the age limit for a fourth jab needs to be reduced.

On the other hand a small Israeli test revealed that while a fourth jab increased people’s antibody levels, it didn’t translate into better covid immunity.

China plunges back into lockdown
At the same time, in China, there are almost 5000 new cases a day right now. More than 30 million people have been plunged back into lockdown. It’s the country’s biggest outbreak since the pandemic began, and China is sticking to its zero covid strategy. Apparently they’re struggling because the omicron variant is so much more transmissible than previous variants.

We’re seeing a global covid surge
China isn’t unusual. There’s a global covid surge going on right now. According to the WHO new infections shot up 8% compared to the 7th - 13th March. It’s worrying when the planet’s caseload has been going steadily down since the end of January.

Scotland’s covid cases rise
Scotland saw 38,770 new cases on 15th March, up from a daily average of 6900 three weeks ago. The BA.2 omicron sublineage, even more transmissible than the original omicron variant, is behind 80% of new Scottish cases.

Covid comes with cardiovascular changes and a bigger risk of type 2 diabetes
A study at São Paulo State University in South America reveals how ‘even mild or moderate infections’ are linked to cardiovascular changes, no matter how healthy you are or how mild the case. The symptoms can persist long after you’ve recovered from covid.

Another study, this time at Washington University, USA, revealed much the same thing. In the words of the study’s senior author, "What we're seeing isn't good. COVID-19 can lead to serious cardiovascular complications and death. The heart does not regenerate or easily mend after heart damage. These are diseases that will affect people for a lifetime."

Another study, this time at the German Diabetes Center in Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, found that adults who recover from mostly mild covid have a significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to people who have had ‘other types of respiratory infections’.

It isn’t just about covid – it’s the rest of your life
As more long-term covid health problems are discovered, and more scientists reveal their discomfort at the government’s reactions, it’s clear it remains wise to avoid covid. As a business owner do you have a responsibility to keep consumers safe at your premises? If so you can’t do better than our brilliant, hard-working UVC light tech, which messes with covid’s DNA and RNA so badly it can’t reproduce and is made harmless. If that sounds good, let’s discuss the potential.

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases – Especially covid!

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 13:39:16 GMT

“Although reported cases and deaths are declining globally, and several countries have lifted restrictions, the pandemic is far from over – and it will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere. The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major obstacles in distributing vaccines, tests and treatments everywhere they are needed.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s Director General.

Jonathan Goodman works at the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. He’s been discussing the danger of coughs and sneezes with New Scientist magazine. In his opinion it’s about time coughing and sneezing in public became just as socially unacceptable as leaving a used nappy in a public place, attracting the same level of disgust and unease.

If you’re keen to avoid covid, have been out and about, and seen people coughing and sneezing without masks in public spaces, you’ll probably feel pretty nervous. If you’re back at work in an office, shop, surgery or other premises and your fellow employees are coming into work with colds – or potentially covid – you might feel very reluctant indeed to go to work. If the place you work is full of coughing, sneezing members of the public, many employees just won’t feel safe. No wonder Jonathan Goodman thinks coughing and sneezing in public needs to become a big cultural no-no... and fast.

In a world where schools are teaching pupils to cover their noses and mouths when they cough or sneeze, personal hygiene is slowly becoming more of an everyday consideration. But there is, apparently, a huge variation in the way people follow the guidance, and many don’t bother at all.

Unlike the feelings of disgust most of us feel when we see a used nappy abandoned and stinking, we don’t have the same reaction to the potentially dangerous or even lethal airborne particles released by coughing and sneezing. We don’t all follow the same ‘socially prescribed rules’. It seems crazy when, just like the diseases spread by human waste, these days coughing and sneezing in public can kill.
In Goodman’s view we need to learn a simple lesson and learn it fast. We learned how to avoid cholera when we discovered it was transmitted by dirty water back in 1854. It’s about time we did the same in 2022 for coughing and sneezing. Only then will we manage, through the process of ‘cultural transmission’, to stop the spread of covid and other, potentially more deadly respiratory diseases. Think SARS, MERS, and worse.

In Goodman’s words, “This pattern of adopting and passing on social conventions has been hugely beneficial for us. It seems strange, then, that when faced with diseases that are extremely infectious and potentially deadly, such as covid-19, many of us cough and splutter in public – despite the fact that this perpetuates the spread of infections. This makes each of us indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people a year worldwide.”

One explanation seems to make sense. Humanity is used to viruses affecting the respiratory system – colds, flu and so on. They’re part of everyday life so don’t scare us as much as they need to. People catch a cold and go to work all the same. They get flu and spread it around without thinking. And the same seems to be happening with covid.

Masks and isolation are no longer the law. It’s a choice. This means we really need to stop being so cavalier about taking our diseases out and about with us, giving them to other people. The risk of a dangerous new covid variant still exists. The more of us catch covid, the bigger the risk of it turning into something truly deadly, killing millions more of us before a vaccine can be created.

In Goodman’s opinion now, more than ever, we need to ‘take personal responsibility’, distance ourselves when ill, and avoiding mixing at work and socially when we’re in the grip of a virus – any virus. In a world where there are no longer effective laws in place to protect us, “coughing and sneezing in public should be reviled”.

Our LED UVC covid killer lights stop the virus in its tracks
Will everyone in the world quickly learn to keep their coughs and sneezes at home, or at the very least take more care around doing it in public? It’s unlikely. You need the best protection available in a situation like this, and our covid killer UVC lights present the solution.

Affordable and easy to fit, our tech can clean the air while people are in a room, and clean it even more thoroughly whenever the space becomes empty. Until we learn to view public coughing and sneezing with disgust, it’s the best way to keep yourself, your employees, customers, visitors and suppliers safe from respiratory diseases like covid – and potentially prevent a variant so dangerous it flattens the human race in record time.

What the scientists are saying about covid – And why it matters

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 08:00:04 GMT

The WHO says the pandemic is “far from over”. As Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, said on 10th March, “The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major obstacles in distributing vaccines, tests and treatments everywhere they are needed.”

At the same time the UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid says there’s no need to worry about the rise in cases we’re seeing right now, because the surge we’re seeing was ‘expected’ following the removal of covid restrictions. And a new report from Nature Medicine reveals much higher risks of long term cardiovascular problems for everyone who has had the virus, whatever their age, state of health, gender or anything else.

We’re all vulnerable. So who do you believe when it comes to covid safety advice?

Do you trust politicians’ advice about covid?
Even as a person who naturally trusts politicians, it isn’t necessarily a good idea to listen to medical advice from MPs and world leaders. However trustworthy they may be their agenda could not be more different from the medical and science professions.

Politicians want the economy to recover, and fast. They would prefer everyone to return to work and stay there for good. They want everything to go back to normal as soon as possible, and that’s the message they broadcast.

Scientists and medical experts, on the other hand, have a different focus, a human focus. They put human health and well-being first. And right now they’re saying it’s a good idea to avoid covid like the plague it still actually is!

We know which group we trust. It’s the medical experts. Here’s just one reason why. As a new report reveals, even a mild case of covid can boost your risk of cardiovascular problems for at least a year after diagnosis. In fact the risk of some nasty conditions, including heart failure and stroke, are ‘substantially higher’ in people who have recovered from covid than in those who hadn’t had the virus. As the lead researcher on the study said: “It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, it doesn’t matter if you smoked, or you didn’t, the risk was there.”

Drug-resistant covid mutation laid at the feet of one treatment
Sotrovimab, a treatment for severe covid, might lie at the heart of why covid is acquiring mutations to help it resist the drug. The medicine neutralises the covid spike protein the virus uses to get into cells. In some patients in Australia, covid developed spike mutations 6-13 days after being given sotrovimab. The genetic changes are dramatic enough to make the drug ‘effectively inactive’, and the finding has led to calls for ‘increased genomic surveillance’ around the use of sotrovimab. As one expert said, the last thing we need is a “resistant virus disseminating in the community, because that will mean that a lot of other people can’t use this drug.”

How we’ll support reliable covid safety at your workplace
So let’s talk covid disinfection. How can we help you? We’ll provide the exact right number and kind of UVC covid killing lamps for your premises. Some of them disinfect the upper layer of air safely while people are in a ventilated space, others safely disinfect even more widely and effectively whenever people leave the room, something the lamps pick up via sensors.

We can make any size or shape of space safe for people to work or shop, get treatment, meet up, enjoy entertainment, you name it. They’re easy to fit and come with almost no maintenance. And they’re cheap to run, using low-energy LEDs.

Thanks to our proven UVC technology we help people like you keep your employees, customers, and other visitors safe when they’re at your place.

Surges, medical breakthroughs and more…

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 08:00:05 GMT

The latest covid news.

It’s exactly like a game of ‘Whac-A-Mole’. We deal with covid in one place, it springs up in another. Last week the ‘stealth omicron’ variant started spreading fast in China. Faced with the biggest spike in two years, with cases tripling in just one day, some of the country’s biggest aluminium plants have shut down. In response we’re already seeing fresh global supply chain problems. Now more than ever, it’s clear that reliable covid disinfection matters. Here’s what’s been going on around the world.

UK’s Health Secretary says the rise in covid infections is ‘expected’
Thanks to the recent easing of all covid restrictions, the UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid says the rise in cases we’re seeing has been ‘expected’. He says it’s ‘nothing to worry about’. Scientists disagree. See the report we’ve mentioned at the end of this article, talking about enhanced risks of cardiovascular problems for people who’ve had the virus, whatever their age or state of health.

Irish Times fears At Patrick’s Day super-spreader surge
In Ireland case numbers are soaring , leaving officials concerned about the potential impact of this year’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Hospitals there are experiencing more cases than they’ve seen since mid-January. Senator Jerry Buttimer says mask-wearing in shops and on public transport should be made compulsory again.

One immunology expert from Trinity College Dublin calls the current sharp rise in cases and hospitalisations ‘concerning’. Others say because the rate of hospitalisations is still low, there’s no need to worry. So what do people do in the face of such contradictory information? It’s a tough call.

US covid response slammed
Some say the USA was originally the best equipped to deal with a pandemic when covid first hit. But the country’s covid response has been ‘plagued by failures’ according to The Guardian . They ask whether the USA will fare any better in the next pandemic, something that’s a certainty rather than a maybe.

Ukraine war will make covid worse
There are fears the war in Ukraine will have a negative impact on covid, making things even worse. While cases in the region are down compared to the week before there is a ‘significant risk’ of ‘more severe disease and death’ thanks to low vaccination rates in Ukraine. The millions of people who have fled the invading Russian forces also have low vaccination rates of just 34%. Neighbouring Moldova is even worse at 29% according to Our World In Data.

New report highlights common covid cardio-vascular problems
There have been some new findings about the virus and its impact on our long term cardio vascular health. A new report published by the top scientific journal Nature Medicine reveals an ‘explosive’ set of facts about the long-term impact of covid. The report reveals those who have had even a mild form of covid are much more likely to develop heart related conditions.

Dr Ziyad-Aly, one of the report’s lead authors, said: “What we found is that people with COVID-19 across the board had a much higher risk of cardiovascular problems and that included strokes and TIAs including abnormal heart rhythms.”

The enhanced risk of “heart conditions and heart failure” was apparently “evident across all groups regardless of age, sex, gender, ethnicity, and regardless of whether not they had any cardiovascular risk factors”. You can read more about the research here.

It’s time to make your premises safe for everyone
The situation in China says it all. The report we’ve just mentioned seals the deal. Covid isn’t a disease you want to mess with. Everyone who visits your premises deserves to be kept as safe as possible against the virus. We can do that for you, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Our covid killing UVC LED lamps are safe, affordable, and highly effective.

UVGI facts from the USA Centers for Disease Control and Preventio

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:00:03 GMT

We talk about killing covid using a certain powerful wavelength of UVC light. But we’re not the only ones discussing the power of UV. UV light has been used to inactivate a multitude of unpleasant and sometimes deadly viruses and other pathogens for decades. So what does the highly respected US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC say about UVC as a covid killer? As it turns out, they’re on our wavelength!

The facts about Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, also called UVGI, involves using UV energy to kill viruses, bacteria and fungi. It’s all down to special light fixtures that generate UV-C energy, a shorter wavelength than the more penetrating, more dangerous UV-A and UV-B rays.

‘Upper-room UVGI’ describes a clever UV disinfection zone located above people’s heads in rooms. The layer of invisible light kills airborne pathogens without directly exposing people in the room to U radiation.

So how does Upper-Room UVGI work?
It goes like this. Air moves through the disinfection zone and any airborne pathogens are killed as soon as they get the right dose of UV. While the virus particles stay in the air they’re harmless because they can no longer cause infection. These systems deliver an air change rate per hour similar to bringing in clean air.

What are the recommended settings for upper room UVGI?
Upper room UVGI isn’t needed in open-air environments. It also shouldn’t be necessary if the HVAC system does the job it has been designed for.

The CDC recommends upper air systems for ‘high-risk indoor settings’ like hospital waiting rooms, where there are likely to be viruses and other pathogens in the air, and in crowded places where people’s health might be compromised, for example libraries, the lobbies of public buildings, and homeless shelters.

These systems are also ideal for places where people can’t avoid taking their masks off indoors, like cafeterias, staff rooms, and restaurants. They make sense in an area where people find it hard or impossible to stay six feet apart. And they’re a good solution in places where there isn’t an existing mechanical HVAC system or the current HVAC system isn’t up to standard.

UVGI has been used safely for more than 70 years
Upper-room UVGI has been used for more than 70 years to kill airborne pathogens. Since the 1950s the technology has mostly focused on controlling TB. There’s a vast reservoir of research around the design, installation, testing, and safe operation of these systems, all science-based and reliable. So far the research on UVGI and covid reveals the virus needs a very similar dose of UVC as the other coronaviruses the light kills effectively: MERS, SARS, seasonal flu and more.

The CDC concludes upper-room UVGI systems can be used to control covid as a ‘useful ventilation tool to consider in reducing the spread of infectious pathogens’

How to install and maintain an upper room UVGI system
These systems are usually custom designed for the space. It’s essential to get everything fitted and tested by a reputable UV-system manufacturer like us, or a professional fitter used to working with these systems.

A typical 500 square foot room tends to require 2-3 of our affordable UVC upper air light fittings. Once installed there’s practically no maintenance except when the long-lasting LED UV lamps need replacing, usually every x (Col, can you add in the time they last?) If the lamps get dirty in situ you can wipe them clean with ordinary rubbing alcohol. Anything else and you’ll need a maintenance expert who’s trained in UVGI systems.

Keeping people safe in the space
Our UVC disinfection lamps and machines are designed with care and attention to detail, with all the safety features you need to ensure safe operation. If you’d like a demo, click through to this page where you can watch our YouTube video revealing the Cool Tech CT-X2 UVC LED steriliser in action.

Covid reinfections, long covid and more – The latest news

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 09:00:03 GMT

Here’s the latest news about covid in the UK. Around the world the virus is still causing havoc. In the Western World many countries are about to relax their covid restrictions. But we still need to keep vulnerable people safe...

The BBC reports on covid reinfection rates
According to the BBC, covid reinfections – in other words people who have had more than one positive covid test - are now being counted in the official covid dashboard.

The government has added the numbers going back to the start of the pandemic instead of only counting first time infections. So far it looks like around a quarter of the UK population has had a confirmed infection. As more new variants arise – which they will – reinfection numbers are predicted to soar. Adding reinfections to the official figures, say scientists, will help track the pandemic’s evolution across the nation.

The new numbers include more than half a million reinfections from the start of the pandemic in England, plus 173,000 more unreported cases that weren’t included before. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are about to do the same thing.

On the bright side reinfections only account for 4% of the 14.8 million positive tests so far. But the rates have been rising sharply since omicron arrived in late 2021. Originally just 1 in 100 cases, now reinfections make up 10% of the total.

The tragedy of lost parents
Researchers have looked at data from 21 countries, including England, between March 2020 and October 2021 and found at least 5.2 million children worldwide have lost a parent, grandparent or caregiver to covid, with 3.3 million of them losing a parent. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which led the project, says this is probably an underestimate because many countries don’t have a robust system for counting covid deaths. The estimate for Africa, for example, is ten times higher than reported. It looks like 75% of parents lost in the pandemic were fathers, and the most likely age group to lose a parent were kids aged 10-17.

The causes of Long Covid are within reach – As is treatment
Thanks to New Scientist magazine for revealing how the mechanisms behind Long Covid are finally being unravelled, and treatments could be with us within a year.

Right now scientists around the world are trying to understand Long Covid and how to treat it. 5.8 million people have died from covid so far. ‘Tens of millions’ more have developed Long Covid, some have been suffering for more than two years, and the word on the streets is most people are getting ‘little help from doctors’, who ‘still aren’t listening to patients’.

We know about 1.3 million people in the UK have long covid at the moment, a number that’s likely to grow following the recent wave of omicron infections that mostly affected unvaccinated young people. Apparently 32% of those asked were still experiencing fatigue 12 weeks later, and 22% had cognitive impairments.

On the bright side, as one scientist says, “I’d be surprised if we didn’t have some pretty good answers and a shelf of therapeutics a year from now.” It looks like apixaban, an anticoagulant, might help with Long Covid, as might atorvastatin, an anti-inflammatory that helps calm an overactive immune system. Clinical trials are underway and early results could be here ‘within the year’.

Long covid risk halves after vaccination
The risk of getting long covid halves when you’re fully vaccinated, as revealed by a review from the UK’s Health Security Agency. It combined 15 studies to show those who’ve been fully vaccinated are half as likely to get long covid compared with the unvaccinated or people with only one dose. It also turned out the vaccines were most effective against long-term symptoms in people aged over 60.

The review also found that unvaccinated people who have had Long Covid then had their jabs were more likely to see an improvement than unvaccinated people with long covid who didn’t have any jabs.

Mothers’ covid immunity passes to unborn babies
Good news if you’re pregnant. It looks like pregnant women who have their jabs pass on immune protection to their unborn babies. The risk of hospitalisation with covid for a six month or younger baby is 61% less when the mother has two doses of Pfizer or Moderna while pregnant.

Stay safe from covid and long covid with powerful UVC LED lights
Our covid-killing lights can be easily fixed into existing electric light fittings. They’re an affordable and highly effective way to kill the covid virus reliably, leaving it completely unable to reproduce so it can’t spread. If you’d like to keep your business clean and safe from covid and a battery of other viral threats, including Ebola, SARS and MERS, we’ll be delighted to reveal all!

How much does it cost to disinfect a business against covid?

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:46:59 GMT

How much does covid disinfection cost? It’s fast becoming a popular question. The answer is ‘it depends’, but it’s always going to be cheaper – and more effective - than hiring human cleaners. Let’s take a look at the cost of keeping people safe at your place using our powerful UVC covid disinfection technology.

What does it cost to hire teams of human cleaners?
If you’re planning to hire a team of human cleaners, equip them with the chemical products they need, and task them with constantly cleaning your premises, what will it cost?

According to Indeed, the average UK hourly wage for a cleaner is currently £9.57. Say you need just one cleaner to keep your place safe for customers, visitors and suppliers, working a 7 hour day 5 days a week. That’s 35 hours at £9.57 an hour, total £335 a week, roughly £1330 a month.

If your premises are bigger than one cleaner can handle, two cleaners would cost you around £2660 a month. A year’s worth of two cleaners would come to just under £32,000.

Ouch. You can see how it soon stacks up, especially for a business with a lot of employees, large premises, and countless customers to keep safe from covid.

The cost of fixed static UVC LED covid disinfection units
When you fit direct fixed static UVC LED units at your place they will automatically disinfect the air and surfaces when the space is unoccupied, reducing the spread of illnesses like covid. A microwave sensor makes sure nobody can be exposed to UVC light while the machine is operating.

Our popular UVC LED Purification Lights come in 50, 100, 150 or 200W Units and offer powerful direct fixed surface sterilisation. Easy to install, they cost a great deal less than human cleaning services:

50W UVC LED light – disinfects spaces measuring x by x by x – £x per unit
100W UVC LED light – disinfects spaces measuring x by x by x – £x per unit
150W UVC LED light – disinfects spaces measuring x by x by x – £x per unit
200W UVC LED light – disinfects spaces measuring x by x by x – £x per unit

The cost of our integrated air circulation system
Our CT-X2 machines are hybrids designed to provide continuous air sterilisation and purification when people are present, disinfecting safely and powerfully to keep people safe from covid, other coronaviruses, and more.

The CT-X2-300 unit is perfect for disinfecting spaces 2-3.5m high with an area of 5-15 square metres. It costs just £604 per unit
The CT-X2-600 unit is perfect for disinfecting spaces up to 2-5m high with an area of 15-30 square metres. It costs just £1180 per unit

How does UV light kill covid?
Our LED UVC units kill covid, other coronaviruses and more diseases quickly and cleanly. The light, which we use at its most effective wavelengths of 200-280nm, destroys the RNA and DNA inside viruses leaving them unable to reproduce, so harmless.

Do business better, save money, potentially save lives
If you’d like to know more about our covid killing UVC light tech, we’re always pleased to talk things through. No obligation – feel free to get in touch.

Covid worldwide

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:45:55 GMT

The latest pandemic news

In some parts of the world it feels like there’s no risk from covid any more. In others there are surges so dramatic that lockdown is on the cards and people are panic-buying.

The pandemic isn’t over by any means. The news coverage might be dying back. We might be getting used to a new way of living. But even though the experts are saying this is no time to be complacent, the shops are packed with mask-less people.

Some of us are feeling safe enough at this point. Others are horrified by the casual attitude England in particular is taking to the ongoing threat of infection and the even worse threat of new variants. As a public-facing business – and as any business employing staff – you still need to keep everyone safe, whether they’re over-confident, over-cautious, or somewhere in the middle.

Here’s the latest covid news from around the world.

Worldwide aluminium prices shoot up thanks to covid
China’s zero tolerance policy means every outbreak of covid is treated very seriously, with instant closures and lockdowns. Outbreaks in the country’s major aluminium producing district is having a dramatic effect on the supply and price of aluminium, revealing what a big financial impact the virus is still having on the world’s economy. Experts say the aluminium sector in China may not fully recover until 2023.

Arthritis drug shows promise for serious covid cases
It looks like the arthritis drug Baricitinib reduces covid deaths, even in people who are already taking covid drugs. It dampens the body’s immune response, whose late-stage overactivity damages the lungs and stops the body’s blood clotting system working properly. Baricitinib was already being used to treat severe covid in some countries, now a large trial in the UK reveals how ‘adding it to other treatments’ against covid cuts the death rate by 13%.

Hong Kong lockdown threat sends people panic buying

Hong Kong’s massive omicron surge is sending people into a panic as threats of lockdown emerge. Vaccination rates among elderly people in Hong Kong are unusually low, putting the region’s health system under threat of collapse. Two of the biggest retailers in Hong Kong have already reported shortages of some medicines and foods, and have begun rationing.

Pandemic depression toll revealed
A study by the World Health Organization says depression and anxiety have risen dramatically during the pandemic. Women and youngsters are the worst affected. The stress people are feeling is being laid at the feet of the ‘unprecedented stress of social isolation’ along with mourning loved ones, the simple fear of infection, and the financial worries people are facing. The WHO says this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says, “This is a wake-up call to all countries to pay more attention to mental health and do a better job of supporting their populations’ mental health.”

Long covid and nerve damage
Nerve damage could be a result of long covid, according to one study. A small piece of research into just 17 people suffering long covid reveals 59% had signs of nerve damage, potentially because of the overactive immune response covid can cause. Because our nerves control our breathing, blood vessels, digestion and more, these can all be damaged when you get long covid.

The impact of covid vaccines on children fades fast
It looks like the protection kids aged 5-11 get from two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech fades away fast. Researchers analysed covid cases and hospitalisations in 365,502 fully vaccinated New York children aged 5-11, during an omicron surge. Older children saw their protection against the virus fall from 85% in mid-December to 73% at the end of January. The protection given to younger children fell more dramatically, with protection against hospitalisation dropping from 100% to just 48%. One expert called the difference between the age groups’ experiences ‘striking’.

Protect people, do business better
Have you pinned down how you’re going to protect people from covid at your place in future? Make it a great decision. Contact us to know more about fitting affordable covid-killing tech to your premises, then you can relax and get on with what really matters – growing your company.

Covid safety is people’s own responsibility – but what about businesses?

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:44:09 GMT

It’s a tricky situation. The government has set everyone loose, making individuals responsible for their own covid safety. But it isn’t always that simple when you think about it. Covid is still spreading and while it’s one thing taking responsibility for your own health, it’s important to do what you can to keep other people safe as well.

How will your business cope with freedom from covid restrictions?
If you run a consumer-facing business, a place where members of the public visit and spend time, are you going to leave it and see how things pan out, without offering any covid protection, or are you going to try to protect the people who come to your place?

You can ask people to wear face masks, as recommended by the government. They say people should still wear masks indoors in public spaces and crowded places.

Why bother with masks? The science reveals transmission mainly happens indoors, when people are close together. Covering the nose and mouth cuts the spread of covid droplets from coughs, sneezes and talking. But most of all, masks protect other people.

Face coverings are still required in healthcare settings like GP surgeries, hospitals and care homes. The government says people should still wear face coverings in enclosed or private spaces when mixing with people they don't know. Many large shops, including supermarkets, are asking their staff and customers to wear face masks. Face coverings are still ‘strongly encouraged’ by Transport For London.

How to decide which covid disinfection to use at your business?
How will you decide the best course of action for everyone concerned? What are the factors that’ll help you decide how much covid protection to offer consumers and the employees who engage with them?

Cost is bound to be a factor. Perhaps the current covid situation in your specific area of the country will become something you keep a careful eye on into the future. You might bring in extra measures if cases spike locally, then reduce your covid safety measures back to minimal when cases go down again.

How to avoid becoming a legal statistic
There’s the law to consider. While we aren’t quite as litigious as they are over in the USA, the thought of being sued in court because you put someone at risk of covid, they caught it, and either became very ill, died, or ended up with Long Covid isn’t a good one. Whether it’s a civil case, a class action or a criminal case, fighting legal action costs a fortune and paying out compensation for a lost case can be a business-killer.

Once you start to think things through you realise the covid situation could still become pretty complex, pretty fast. Luckily there’s a brilliant and wholly reliable way to handle covid safety into the future, and it also happens to be very good value for money. We’re talking UVC LED lights and units.

Keep people safe from covid affordably and simply
UV light messes with the DNA and RNA inside the covid virus so badly it can’t reproduce. It only takes a few short minutes to disinfect an ordinary sized room. Some of the lights have two functions, safely cleaning the air while people are in the room and switching automatically to a deadly wavelength of UVC for a powerful clean whenever the space is empty. You don’t have to switch things on and off, or keep an eye on anything.

Our clever units support safer working for employees and deliver reliable customer safety too. When you leave at the end of the day you simply switch them off like you would any other light. They’re remarkably good value for money as well as cheap to run thanks to energy-efficient, cool, clean LED bulbs.

If that sounds good let’s talk about fitting UVC disinfecting lamps to your premises. Feel free to call.

Ancient viruses - In our DNA and in the permafrost

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:45:03 GMT

This week scientists found a 106 million year old virus ‘fossilised’ inside the human genome. It reveals how humanity has been battling viruses for a very long time indeed. In fact our relationship with viruses has been going on for so long that bits and bobs of virus DNA are scattered generously throughout our genome, inactive but forming part of every human being’s genetic code. This is what we’re fighting.

The idea first took root more than 100 years ago thanks to the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911 to 1914, a disaster leading to two deaths and a mental breakdown. Expedition doctor Archibald McLean dug more than 2m down into the solid ice and found a variety of bacteria, fungi and protozoa. When they reached the surface many of them re-animated to ‘commence a new life-history’.

Now an article in New Scientist magazine asks a question that’s worrying more people as the climate warms. Could ancient viruses from melting permafrost cause the next pandemic?

The ‘next pandemic?’
Yes, it’s the ‘next pandemic’... because everyone who’s in the know understands we will have another one. It’s a scientific certainty, merely a matter of time. And the next one could prove a whole lot worse than covid. There’s no reason why not.

The risk of viral nasties in melted permafrost
Permafrost is simply permanent frost. Vast areas of Siberia, for example, have been frozen below a foot or two down, all year round, for millennia. Now the earth is warming thanks to climate change, and the fast-melting permafrost is revealing its secrets. Around 10% of the earth’s land surface is covered with ice and snow so it’s vital to know what threats it contains.

Permafrost is teeming with microbes, any one of which could pose a deadly risk to humans. We might even come across ancient diseases that once infected Neanderthals, Denisovans, and more of our extinct hominid ancestors. Here’s an example. In 2016, on Russia’s Yamal peninsula, the bacterium that causes anthrax ‘emerged from the soil and spread like wildfire’. 2000 reindeer died before the outbreak was brought under control, many people became very ill, and one boy died.

In 2013 a team drilled deep into Lake Whillans, a liquid water lake lying 800m below the West Antarctic ice sheet. As it turns out the icy lake was rich in ‘entire ecosystems of bacteria and other microorganisms with diverse lifestyles all living together, despite the cold and darkness.’ The same goes for other cold and hostile environments including Andean glaciers and the West Antarctic Ice Shelf Divide ice core.

Some ancient microbes are damaged – but others survive
Roll back time to 1999 and researchers found a virus that infects tomatoes and other plants in 140,000 year old Greenland glacier ice. In 2004 a team hinted that ice might act as a ‘reservoir’ for pathogenic viruses like flu. In 2021 a group of scientist identified a range of viruses in ice cores from Tibet, as much as 15,000 years old and mostly infecting bacteria.
The good news is, if you’ve been eking out a living under the ice for 25,000 or more years your DNA isn’t going to be in very good shape. The viruses and other pathogens found in ancient ice that like to thrive in nice, warm places like the human body don’t fare well when frozen for millennia. The DNA remains, but it’s too badly damaged to animate. On the other hand, in 2007, scientists did manage to grow 8 million year old bacteria taken from Antarctic ice.

Where do escaping pathogens end up?
So where do these pathogens go when the ice melts? Into rivers, lakes and seas. Meltwater from the Greenland ice sheet, for example, carries microbes far away. Many of them are rare, plenty have never been studied, and ‘It is hard to predict what they will do’.

Ice is safer than permafrost. The organic materials in permafrost create the perfect place for pathogenic microbes to thrive. Human remains taken from frozen earth in Alaska contain the complete genome of the 1918 Spanish flu virus. A pathogen related to smallpox was found in a 300 year old Siberian mummy. 700 year old frozen caribou poop contains traces of viruses. And giant viruses are a new thing. In 2014 a team from France found giant viruses in the Siberian permafrost. Called pithoviruses, their complex genomes stayed intact in the ice for 34,000 years. Luckily they don’t infect humans.

In conclusion – We need to know more about permafrost pathogens
The scientific community agrees we need ‘increased disease surveillance in the Arctic’ to spot and handle outbreaks fast before they escape. In the meantime they recommend we keep things in perspective. As one of them said, ‘ The danger is real and needs dealing with – but it isn’t likely to herald the end of the world.’ On the other hand unless we prepare properly, 2016’s deadly anthrax outbreak could be the tip of the iceberg.

Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25333743-200-could-ancient-viruses-from-melting-permafrost-cause-the-next-pandemic/

UV-LED ‘highly effective’ at inactivating human coronaviruses and HIV-1

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 09:36:34 GMT

“This cost-effective prevention method may be an important and practical adjunct to existing disinfection strategies to minimize transmission of communicable diseases in public places.”

Ultraviolet (UV) light has been used for decades as a useful method of disinfection against a wide range of microorganisms. A new study has proved that ultraviolet light-emitting diodes are an effective way to decontaminate by inactivating two viruses, the human coronavirus 229E and human immunodeficiency virus.

There’s more. The same dose of ultraviolet light that inactivated human viruses also completely inactivated ultraviolet-resistant bacterial spores called Bacillus pumilus, making it a ‘gold standard’ for ultraviolet disinfection.

Once more, science proves that just a few seconds exposure to ultraviolet light-emitting diodes can inactivate viruses and bacteria, making it a ‘useful and practical tool for broad sanitisation of public spaces’. Read on to find out more.

How covid is inspiring new disinfection tech
Thanks to covid scientists the world over are busy developing technologies to deliver frequent, high-throughput disinfection, especially in busy public places. Conventional chemical disinfectants are effective, but large scale deployment just isn’t practical thanks to the hazardous chemicals they contain and the sheer amount of manpower required.

Ultraviolet radiation, when automated, creates a reproducible germicidal dose and is already used to inactivate microbes, including several types of viruses. The LED versions of UV lamps provide the same level of decontamination as conventional mercury lamps, but can be easily retrofitted to a range of ordinary overhead light fixtures.

How UV kills the virus
In science language, this is how it works: ‘The nucleotide bases of DNA and RNA absorb UV photons to disrupt the structure of nucleotide sequences, introducing ‘roadblocks’ in genome replication.’ In other words the light damages the virus’ DNA and RNA so badly it can’t reproduce, stopped in its tracks and unable to make a person ill.

Testing UV LED on HIV-1 and seasonal human coronavirus 229E
The study reveals ‘significant reductions’ in viral replication within seconds of UV-LED exposure, adding to an already large body of research proving the virus-killing power of LED UV as well as suggesting their use in high-contact public spaces.

Because UV-LEDs are low cost and easily installed into existing light fixtures, they provide a ‘highly efficacious layer of protection’ against pathogens like covid, ‘particularly in times of an ongoing respiratory virus pandemic’.

The UV-LED equipment and method used for the study

Two sets of UV-LEDs were used, consisting of nine 275 nm LEDs in a 3 × 3 array, and twenty 380 nm LEDs in a 4 × 5 array
These were places around 5 cm from an irradiated sample, with each array delivering between 0.4 and 0.6 mW/cm2 of UV light
The maximum irradiation time was 30 seconds and the total dose was 8 mJ/cm2 to 20 mJ/cm2
The area illuminated was a lot bigger than the irradiated sample, totalling around 10 cm by 20 cm, 200 cm2

How did the LED UV disinfection perform?
The research reveals the effectiveness of UV-LEDs in decontamination by inactivating UV-resistant bacterial spores, HIV-1, and the human coronavirus 229E. The team believes their experiments showing inactivation of the B. pumilus spores, known for their high level of UV resistance, are a good early indication that ‘routine disinfection of high-contact, public spaces may mitigate the risks of transmission’.

UV-LEDs come with many advantages. They are low cost. They can easily be fitted to automatically sanitise offices, shopping centres, gyms, public transport and more. As such they also make a useful addition to existing prevention methods. And while it may not be possible to 100% sterilise a public spaces, the ‘routine disinfection of high traffic spaces with iterative UV exposures throughout the day’ can reduce the transmission of infectious diseases. The work ‘adds to growing literature’ proving UV-LEDs work beautifully for disinfection against all sorts of pathogens.

Let’s talk LED UV covid disinfection
Want to know more? Contact us or take a look at our brilliant UVC LED products.

Source: https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w
Citation: Persaud, A.T., Burnie, J., Thaya, L. et al. A UV-LED module that is highly effective at inactivating human coronaviruses and HIV-1. Virol J 19, 29 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w

Will covid become more contagious?

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 09:36:01 GMT

Measles is humanity’s most contagious virus. Could covid become as easy to catch as measles? If not, what else might happen? We take a look at the potential for a covid variant that doesn’t come with such a deadly risk profile - but is so ultra-infectious it becomes very hard to avoid.

Is there an upper limit to virus contagion?
Viruses usually get more contagious over time. This happens because natural selection favours mutations that improve a virus’s ability to spread. The reproduction or R number for measles is anything from 12-18. In a group of people with no vaccination against measles and no prior immunity, just one person could spread measles to 12 - 18 others.

How come measles doesn’t just keep on getting more and more infectious? Limits inside the measles virus itself mean it can’t evolve anywhere near as fast as coronaviruses, influenza, or HIV. And that’s why we only need one measles jab as children. Measles doesn’t create new variants, it just is what it is.

Covid is different. It evolves quickly and easily. The late 2019 original’s R number was 2.5, delta’s R number was around 6, and while we’re still not sure about the R number of omicron it does seem to be more contagious than previous variants. It certainly infects cells differently and has definitely evolved to be far better at transmission.

This hints that future new variants could also end up being a whole lot more contagious. They could even end up more infectious than measles, and that’ll be a record breaker. In the words of one scientist, “There’s no reason to think not.” On the other hand measles blends a number of elements to become the perfect spreader. It sheds itself like mad when it infects someone. It quietly spreads for four days before the infected person even realises they’re ill. It spreads through coughs and sneezes, and stays in the air for as long as two hours. And because it is a 100% human virus, not found in any other animal, it’s designed exclusively to infect humans. Thankfully, measles is special.

Very contagious viruses eventually hit an upper limit beyond which they can’t go, simply because humans develop ‘population immunity’. Omicron cases are falling in some places now, for example, because so many of us have developed a specific immunity to it.

The hope is that the next variant – because there’s no doubt there will be another – won’t cause worse symptoms as well as being more contagious. That’s the big worry scientists are facing right now.

Against this landscape, the world’s leaders are working in different ways.

What the world is doing about covid right now

Boris Johnson wants to lift all covid regulations in England on 24th February, including the need to self-isolate after a diagnosis – it’s happening a full month early but some scientists are concerned it’s too soon
Covid death stats reveal a ‘huge’ ongoing impact on minority groups, with over 30% of deaths in England among over 30s from Bangladeshi, Black African or Pakistani ethnic groups. This is more than double the rate seen in adults recorded as white British
South Korea’s government says covid patients must treat themselves to alleviate the strain placed by omicron on the healthcare system
Hong Kong’s daily infections have multiplied 13 times in just 2 weeks
Japan’s government is buying another 10m doses of Covid vaccine from Pfizer to be delivered in March
Sweden says those over 80 should have a second booster shot to help boost waning immunity thanks to the ‘rampant spread’ of the omicron variant
Germany is planning to ease restrictions, but doesn’t want to loosen things ‘too early’

Our UVC lights and units keep people safe from covid
Our UVC lights and units give you the peace of mind you need, keeping your employee safe as well as visitors and suppliers. As the covid uncertainty continues, we offer businesses a level of certainty they can’t achieve any other way. UVC LED is the best way to kill covid, kill every other coronavirus, and knock a load more nasty diseases on the head.

The latest UK covid news

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:00:03 GMT

New science, new drugs, new variant

In a week when the UK’s foreign secretary Liz Truss tested positive for covid – after speaking to a packed House of Commons without a mask – we’re exploring the latest UK covid news. Read on to find out about Pfizer’s antiviral covid pill, the latest on the BA.2 variant, which is rapidly overtaking Omicron, and more.

The latest covid news in the UK
Thousands of UK citizens will be given Pfizer’s covid antiviral pill from 10th February. Called Paxlovid, it’s designed for high-risk patients, for example those who have cancer or are immunocompromised, and is given when they’ve tested positive for covid. The latest UK covid news on the subject reveals the drug should cut the risk of hospitalisation and death by around 88% in high risk people as long as it’s administered in time.

The BA.2 variant – Latest news and risk assessments
The news about UK covidBA.2 variant? So far the UK has identified over 2500 confirmed cases of BA.2 since 6th Dec. A designated ‘variant under investigation’, the health authorities are keeping a close eye on it. So far they’re not particularly concerned, even though the variant spreads 1.5 times faster than BA.1. On the down side, higher transmissibility may mean we might not see waves of omicron disappear as fast as we hoped. Here’s the latest insight.

BA.2 is a type of omicron, which includes a family of variants that turned up in November last year. The UK, Germany, India and Denmark are seeing a fast-rising percentage of BA.2 as it overtakes BA.1, replacing it in record time.

If you are not vaccinated and haven’t been infected by omicron, you’re at risk. Even if you don’t become very ill with covid, you will play a part in a chain reaction that could easily generate more mutations and more variants.

While it can happen, it looks as though people who have had a recent BA.1 infection won’t easily catch BA.2, especially if they’re vaccinated. If you’ve been vaccinated but haven’t had omicron, it’s good to know the current vaccines are even better at protecting people against BA.2 than they are against the original BA.1. In fact the Health Security Agency says 3 doses gives 70% protection against symptomatic infection.

Will BA.2 cause more waves? Maybe. It will probably prolong current omicron waves in some places. There’s good news from South Africa, whose omicron wave is almost over. They haven’t seen a BA.2 surge even though most new cases are now BA.2. On the other hand if a country hasn’t had an omicron wave, it could easily get a BA.2 wave.

While it’s 50% more transmissible, experts still believe BA.2 is relatively mild. While viruses that are more transmissible can cause more hospitalisations and deaths, simply because they infect so many more people, when there’s a good level of vaccination and immunity, the number and severity of BA.2 infections should remain low.

Lastly, the ‘stealth variant’ label has been dismissed. The variant is in fact easy to pick up using PCR and rapid lateral flow tests.

Covid UK latest news – NHS backlog delayed by omicron
It looks like the plans to tackle NHS England’s backlog of patients has been delayed by omicron, according to Health secretary Sajid Javid. They were planning to originally publish the plan in early December but omicron ‘changed focus’ on to the booster programme. Apparently the plan will be made public ‘soon’, when the omicron wave retreats.

Vaccination means less risk of variants
That was the news about covid in the UK. Finally, a quick warning. The current variants of concern are less dangerous than the originals. But remember, the more of us catch the virus – no matter how mild it is – the more risk there is of variants emerging. And there’s no scientific reason why they shouldn’t be a lot more dangerous than anything we’ve seen so far. That’s viruses for you.

Kill covid stone dead in minutes
Stay safe from covid! Harness affordable, highly effective, clean UVC to kill viruses and their variants stone dead.

Why UV disinfection for covid matters more than ever

Mon, 07 Feb 2022 14:10:17 GMT

In a week when a new variant of HIV, dubbed VB, has been announced, our UV light disinfection technology is more important than ever before. Luckily, while the new HIV virus variant is more infectious than original HIV, it’s treatable. Like many other nasty and often deadly viruses, including original HIV, it’s on the kill list for our UVC Silent Guardian lights. Give them a few minutes and they kill off every virus the light touches, on surfaces and in the air. Here’s the latest covid news from around the world.

Unvaccinated US military personnel discharged
In the USA soldiers who haven’t been vaccinated against covid are being discharged instantly because they ‘pose a risk to the force and jeopardise readiness’. The order affects army soldiers, reserve staff on active duty, and cadets. So far 90 or so US military members have died of covid. The USA’s air force has already discharged 27 unvaccinated people and their navy has discharged 45 unvaccinated sailors. Covid disinfection with UV light would help the US military steer clear of covid.

Some countries begin to lift restrictions, others lock down
Sweden is set to lift all its covid restrictions even though they’re still seeing about 36,000 new daily cases. Denmark has already done the same, the first EU nation to lift all restrictions. They are still seeing 40,000 to 50,000 new infections every day but hope high levels of vaccination in the country will avoid a spike in hospitalisations. In both nations, UVC covid disinfection tech will help businesses to keep people safe.

In the UK we saw 55,000 or so new cases on 6th February, and a total of just under 600,000 over the previous 7 days. UVC light disinfection will play a vital part in keeping covid under better control in future.

New Zealand is going to re-open its borders in phases, letting some vaccinated citizens and visa holders return without quarantine in state isolation facilities from 27th February. Overseas vaccinated travellers and some skilled workers will be let in from 13thMarch, followed by 5000 or so international students from 12th April. Covid disinfection tech will support a safer, covid-free future over there, too.

Tonga is set to enter lockdown after five cases were discovered, the first instance of community transmission in the country. Until now they’ve only had one case. And in Russia on 1st February they suffered the highest daily number of new coronavirus cases, 125,836. Russia only has a 50% national vaccination rate so it’s a worrying situation. In Russia UVC disinfection for covid could also prove a vital weapon in the fight against runaway infections.

Trial gives covid to young adults
In the UK a new trial has deliberately infected younger people with covid. 36 volunteers aged between 18 and 29 were given a low dose of the virus through their nose. The virus used was from someone who got covid early in the pandemic, before we had any new variants of concern to worry about. Eighteen became infected, 16 of whom had a cold-like runny rose, sore throat, cough, fever or headache, most of which weren’t on the original symptoms list. 13 people lost their sense of taste and smell temporarily. Symptoms arrived within 42 hours, a much shorter average incubation than the 2-14 days estimates we were given at the time.

The virus stayed in the volunteers’ throats for 40 hours, turning up in the nose after around 58 hours. Peak levels of the virus were higher in the nose, which shows how important face coverings are at preventing the spread – as long as they cover both the mouth and nose.

Buy highly effective UVC lights and UVC Rapid Response Mobile Units.
The more we know, the safer we will be. And the faster we get to grips with living with the virus, the better for all of us. Our rapid response mobile units give you a totally reliable way to live with the virus, making your employees safer, your visitors more confident, and your business an edge over competitors that keep losing staff to covid isolation and illness.

The BA.2 covid variant, triple covid infection, and tests for new vaccines

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:00:03 GMT

As reported by City am and a host more places, the UK and Scandinavia are reporting a new covid variant called BA.2. It is so infectious, spreading so quickly, that almost 50% of all Danish cases are now BA.2. On 24th January, in the UK, we had more than 400 confirmed BA.2 infections. By now, a week later, the number will be a great deal higher. The new mutation has also turned up in Norway, Sweden, Singapore, and India.

The new variant is being nicknamed ‘Stealth Omicron’ by the media, and it’s quickly pushing its way past omicron to become the mutation of the moment. Like previous variants BA.2 is mostly a mystery right now, simply because it takes science a while to catch up and do the relevant tests.

What do we know about BA.2 so far?
The super-fast rise of BA.2 in Denmark and elsewhere suggests it might beat omicron. The country’s new Covid infections have shot to record highs with more than 30,000 new cases a day last week, ten times more than ever before.

In Norway there have been a few cases where people who caught omicron have subsequently also caught BA.2. One covid expert says it’s ‘remarkable’ how omicron and BA.2 have such significant differences around immunity and infection.

So far BA.2 seems relatively mild. Hospitalisation numbers and death rates seem much the same as omicron but experts warn it’s early days. They haven’t been observing the new variant for long. So far, until we understand more, those in the know say BA.2 should be treated like any other variant.

Apparently vaccines should still work against BA.2. On the other hand one of the reasons its fast spread could be that it’s better at evading people’s immunity, which means it can infect better.

Most omicron cases have been caused by a variant called BA.1
BA.2 is a type of omicron
The first BA.2 sample was found in South Africa in November 2021
BA.2 has 32 of the same mutations as BA.1 plus 28 different ones
BA.2 is replacing BA.1, hinting it is more transmissible
Nobody knows if you can get BA.2 if you have already had omicron but it appears unlikely, especially if you’ve had your jabs
If you’re not vaccinated, BA.2 can kill
Current vaccines are better at protecting against BA.2 than BA.1
BA.2 might prolong the current international wave of omicron
Some countries might see BA.2 waves of their own
So far, BA.2 looks no more likely to cause severe symptoms than BA.1 - but it could be 50% more transmissible

Seriously ill covid patients’ genetics deliver a vital clue
It looks like a group of genetic variants found in severely ill covid patients might be behind the differences in how poorly people get.

The virus must attach to human cells, get inside them, and multiply. To do this it has to create inflammation. The team at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, USA , has pinned down genes with structural changes in very sick people that affect these vital processes

In nine of the sickest patients the team found seven rare structural variants affecting 31 genes involved in mediating the response between a person and a virus. One, for example, leads to the over-expression of keratin genes. Keratins, found in human hair and nails, are also important for transmitting flu and covid viruses between cells, where they can ‘hyperactivate’ normal bodily systems and lead to severe illness or death.

11 year old boy catches 3 different variants
The Healthsite reports on an eleven year old Israeli boy who has been infected with three different covid variants over 365 days. He has tested positive for alpha, delta, and now omicron, and has been in quarantine several times. The first two infections were quite nasty, with ‘pretty serious’ symptoms, but omicron hasn’t been so bad.

Moderna’s Omicron vaccine goes to clinical trial
Moderna has started a clinical trial for a booster jab designed specifically for omicron, and the first participant has had their test dose. They’ll be enrolling 600 adults in the trial, half of whom will have received three doses of the original Moderna vaccine, including a booster. The rest will have only had two jabs of the original. Both groups will get the new booster. Pfizer and BioNTech are also testing an omicron-specific jab.

Does our UVC tech kill the BA.2 variant?
Does our UVC tech kill covid? Yes, along with Ebola, SARS, MERS, hospital acquired infections and all the covid variants. UV light is brilliant at killing viruses. Will you use our tech to protect your employees, visitors and customers against current and future covid variants?

Covid disinfection for schools

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 14:15:03 GMT

About covid safety in education

Covid isn’t going away any time soon. The world is beginning to settle into ‘living with’ the virus. At the same time school covid safety is on the menu, with vital conversations going on about long term covid disinfection for schools.

A government funded pilot into covid safety for schools has been taking place in 30 West Yorkshire primary schools, and a nationwide rollout could be on the cards. The research involves ten schools being fitted with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, and ten schools with UV purifiers. The third group of ten schools is acting as a ‘control’ for the test, with no extra school covid safety measures provided.

The school covid disinfection trial is being run by the Centre for Applied Education Research, a collaboration between the universities of Leeds, Bradford and York, Bradford Council, and the Department for Education. The leader of the study, Professor Mark Mon-Williams from the University of Leeds, said the study would also examine the practical aspects of getting the different units installed. As a government spokesperson said, “We are working to identify cost-effective ways to reduce transmission in communities and this pilot, backed by £1.75 million, is designed to assess the most effective use of proven air disinfection technologies in school settings.”

Meet Cool-Tech Ltd – specialists in UV technology for the education sector
At Cool-Tech Ltd we’re already supplying fixed air purification units and mobile direct light units to schools in Ireland. The research in Bradford, plus the fact that all our laboratory tests are conducted and signed off into white papers by the University of East Anglia, mean our covid killing UV units are proven to be safe and effective.

Cool-Tech is an ISO9000 company. We’ve been trading since 2006 and we employ eight people. The UVC arm of our company produces fixed and mobile UV lamps that break down the DNA of bacteria, viruses and spores, rendering them entirely harmless.

UV radiation is already widely used in water and air treatment as a disinfection process that inactivates micro-organisms without the use of chemicals. And it’s the perfect way to deal with the risk of coronavirus in schools.

Our lamps are proven to be effective against a range of pathogenic micro-organisms: cholera, hepatitis, polio, typhoid, giardia, cryptosporidium, many other bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases, plus Covid-19 and all its variants. This type of sterilising equipment eliminates every single pathogen in the same way, so the technology will never become obsolete like vaccines can. It will safely kill every variant of every airborne organism going forwards.

You can rely on UV light for covid safety in education
If you’re responsible for covid school safety and would like to trial our units in one or more schools, we will be delighted to step in. In a world where covid is still mutating and is likely to be something we’ll be facing for a number of years, UVC technology is the best way of getting children back into schools safely. It also keeps essential people like teachers and school support staff safe from the virus, therefore able to work.

See our covid killing UVC equipment in action
Here are some videos of our technology in action. It’s impressive. If you’d like to know more, please get in touch to discuss setting up a trial.

Covid disinfection

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 13:20:11 GMT

Teachers ‘unsure’ how to ventilate classrooms

Thanks to New Scientist magazine for highlighting an issue we’ve been talking about for a long time: as winter trundles onwards and the kids are back at school, how do teachers ventilate their classrooms to help keep themselves and pupils safe from covid?

While it’s simple enough in summer to throw open the windows, in winter it’s an entirely different challenge. Let’s look at the risks, how those involved feel, and the best covid disinfection solution for schools.

School teachers struggle to keep classrooms covid-safe this winter
School absences are soaring in the UK as winter bites and covid spreads through educational establishments. Now the classroom mask-wearing guidelines are lifted, teachers are being left wondering what’s the best way to ventilate their classrooms while staying warm.

CO2 monitors deployed without adequate explanation or support
The government has sent over 350,000 CO2 monitors to schools in England since September last year. Sadly confusion and ‘poor communication’ about how to use the machines has left teachers unsure what to do and pupils struggling to work in freezing cold classrooms. At the same time the under eleven age group remains ‘almost entirely unvaccinated’, which makes covid disinfection and ventilation more important than ever.

CO2 monitors reveal how well ventilated a room is. If the reading is high it means there isn’t enough ventilation for the number of people in the room, which in turn means there’s a higher risk of transmitting covid to pupils and teachers. But like all tech, the monitors only work if they’re used properly.

The mixed messages teachers have been given have left many baffled, resorting to opening the windows instead. 16% say they’ve had no guidance at all, 34% say they were told to open all their windows as wide as they can, 18% said they’d been told to open the windows a little bit. Many teachers say they haven’t had any advice on what the numbers the CO2 monitors reveal actually mean.

Catherine Noakes from the University of Leeds is a specialist in ventilation and airborne infections. She says windows should be opened for about 10 minutes at a time every hour, as well as opening doors and windows wide at break and lunchtimes. But this isn’t possible in many schools where the windows have been painted shut or were never designed to open in the first place.

UVC covid disinfection for schools to the rescue
Schools with windows that can’t open will eventually be sent air purifiers by the government, designed to help remove covid particles from the air. But so far the government hasn’t mentioned UVC technologies, even though UVC has been used in healthcare settings for many decades to clean and disinfect surfaces and air. It kills Ebola, SARS, MERS, flu and more types of virus, as well as every variant of covid. Isn’t it about time they listened to the UVC covid killing science?

If you’d like to disinfect your school against covid without freezing your pupils, let’s talk!

Living with covid

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:01:26 GMT

What does it mean to ‘live with’ the virus?

It first appeared in late 2019. By March 2020 the world was locking down. 2021 was mostly a wash-out. Here we are, in 2022, and covid remains with us. There’s no doubt we’ll see more variants, and they might or might not be more dangerous. But one thing is clear. We can’t keep lurching from crisis to crisis. We need to find ways to start living with the virus, ways that keep ourselves safe and protect people who are vulnerable. So let’s look at how that might work.

Common sense ways to stay safe from covid
We’re fortunate that a few simple actions make a big difference to our own safety and the safety of other people. Covid could have been so much worse. Imagine if it was as deadly as Ebola? It could easily have happened.

There’s no scientific doubt that wearing a face mask or covering is a really effective way to stop you from spreading the virus to others, and wearing a mask also helps stop the virus from entering your own mouth and nose. There’s also no doubt that simply keeping your distance from other people helps curb the virus’ spread. It’s simple logic. Enclosed and crowded spaces are naturally more risky to spend time in than being outdoors or having the windows open.

Vaccinations are one of humanity’s most powerful weapons. The more of us are fully vaccinated and boosted, the less able covid is to spread and, if we catch it, the less likely we are to be ill enough to be hospitalised. There’s more. The fewer people covid infects, the less chance it has to morph into different variants and the safer the world’s people will be.

Testing and self-isolation are also reliable ways to help curb the spread of the virus. Washing your hands and covering your mouth and nose if you cough or sneeze are always sensible actions to take. And working from home is another reliable way to stay safe as well as keeping others safe.

Add all these simple things together and we can all go a long way towards avoiding infection in many situations and contexts. But what about the times, places and circumstances where there’s still a risk?

UV light delivers powerful, proven covid inactivation
Workplaces and schools, theatres and cinemas, beauty salons and dental clinics, nursing homes and cruise ships, cafes and gyms, offices, factories and childcare facilities... these are all settings where our proven UVC technology works beautifully to kill covid stone dead in no time.

Some of our lamps continually disinfect the air in a way that’s so safe people can be in the space and come to no harm whatsoever. Other lamps come with a dual action. Integrating surface and air sterilisation, they only enable powerful direct ‘line of sight’ disinfection when a sensor reveals there’s nobody in the space. We also provide purification lights, vehicle sterilisers, and mobile sterilisers. They’re all sustainable, chemical-free, and don’t give off any ozone. They use minimal energy thanks to LED bulbs. And they are all deadly to harmful micro-organisms.

Faced with our technology, covid doesn’t stand a chance. And that makes it one of the best ways to live with the virus, whatever your business or organisation. If that sounds good, it is. Let’s talk.

Need a mobile UV steriliser?

Mon, 24 Jan 2022 08:00:04 GMT

These are marvellous machines!

UVC light is remarkable. We call it the Silent Guardian. At Cool-Tech UVC we provide the full range of direct (surface) and indirect (air) UV disinfection solutions, all driven by clean, pure, powerful pathogen-killing UV light.

Here’s what you need to know about our popular Silent Guardian range of mobile UV sterilisers, designed to make working, entertainment, and public spaces safe from covid as well as a long list of other nasty pathogens we all prefer to avoid.

These are the only sustainable, chemical free, robust solutions available on the market today. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. In the meantime, read on.

The Mobile UVC LED Steriliser Unit – 200 Watt or 600 Watt

Our mobile UVC LED Steriliser Unit is perfect for highly effective direct fixed surface sterilisation. The UVC LED germicidal lights it employs complement your regular cleaning services really well. There’s a surprisingly fast turnaround and no downtime, essential in most organisations. The machines themselves are robust solid state UVC LED units so don’t contain any dangerous mercury vapour. In fact safety and efficiency sit at the heart of every aspect of these powerful machines.

Our mobile sterilisers are easy to move from room to room and building to building, which means they’re great when you need to react quickly to emergencies. You have the choice of two mobile power choices, 200W or 600W, and the resulting disinfection is fast and intense. This machine is ideal for:

Cinemas and theatres
Libraries
Schools, colleges and universities
Cruise ships
Playgroups and childcare settings
Hospitals and clinics
Opticians and dental surgeries
Beauty salons and hairdressers
Hospitality
Gyms
Offices and factories

The Vehicle Steriliser – 200 Watts

Our mobile vehicle UVC LED Steriliser Units offer excellent direct fixed surfaces sterilisation. This vehicle germicidal unit is designed especially for effective disinfection without causing damage to the inside of a vehicle or its electronics, even in the long term. Built with ease of use and safety in mind, it knocks covid and other pathogens for six, making them harmless by ruining their RNA and DNA so they can’t reproduce. Perfect for:

Ambulances
Fire engines
Taxis
Vehicle fleet operators
Buses, school buses, community buses, trains, trams and other public transport
Vehicle servicing

Which machine will suit your context best?

Which product will suit your business, your premises, and your wider context best of all? Our UVC measurement tool is very helpful, and easy to use. It’ll tell you the amount of exposure you need to kill covid and other pathogens in the space you require, giving you a handy percentage killing rate for our different lamp options. Or you could give us a call instead. We’re always happy to help.

Powerful, safe, covid-killing UV tech

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 13:31:02 GMT

The CX Series - LED UVC Air Sterilisers

UVC light has been used in healthcare settings for more than 40 years. You’ve probably heard about clever machines that use powerful UV light to kill the covid virus. As someone who runs a business with employees, suppliers, partners, visitors or customers to keep safe from covid, you’d like to know more.

Our overhead upper air LED UVC units kill covid and a load more nasty viruses quickly and cleanly. The light, at the most effective wavelengths of 200-280nm, destroys the RNA and DNA inside the covid virus, and other viruses and pathogens, which means it can’t reproduce.

Here’s what you need to know about the tech that kills covid – and all of its variants - stone dead completely safely, even when people are in the room.

No chemicals
No ozone, no mercury, no odour
No maintenance
Silent operation
Long lifespan
Sustainable and low-energy
Highly effective against harmful micro-organisms including covid, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Hospital Acquired Infections and more
Completely safe for humans
Stylish and simple designs

The UVC covid air steriliser story

Our popular LED UV air sterilisers are safe for humans. People can be in the room when they’re switched on, and there is absolutely no impact on a person’s health or safety. These machines kill, but they ONLY kill pathogens!

We make a series of machines designed to constantly disinfect the upper air and air from below, which is pulled through a fan to increase circulation. This helps protect people in the vicinity from covid and many more pathogens. Depending on the model, the tech is ideal for:

Shared office space
Schools
Medical settings
Theatres and cinemas
Sports dressing rooms
Shops
Smaller spaces like loos and changing rooms
And more

Because the units are installed above people’s heads they prevent cross contamination of viruses and other pathogens, dramatically reducing the viral load in the air and creating clean air as standard.

Our X Series comes as a standard 600mm or 300mm square ceiling tile. The smaller model, the X1, cleverly relies on convection to provide continuous air disinfection, while the X2 involves mechanical extraction, which is equally effective. The X3 blends surface sterilisation and air sterilisation, combining direct ‘line of sight’ disinfection while the space is unoccupied with continuous upper air disinfection when people are in the space.

Our highly effective upper Air UVC LED Units – The CT-X1-300&600

The CT-X1-300 upper air UVC LED Unit is neat, sleek and unobtrusive. It’s easy to install on a ceiling, where it provides continual upper air disinfection in a sustainable way that minimises energy use. It costs just £344 per unit and this particular model is perfect for rooms measuring 2-3m height, with 5-12m square floor space.

The CT-X1-600 employs the same proven LED technology but it’s larger, capable of disinfecting bigger spaces. It costs just £1001per unit, and is ideal for places measuring 2-4m high with a 10-20m square floor area.

Our fantastic CT-X2-300 & 600 – An affordable integrated air circulation system

The hybrid CT-X2 machine provides continuous air sterilisation and purification when people are present. Again there’s no extra labour involved, and no chemicals to add. And we have two variants for you, the CT-X2-300 and the CT-X2-600, the latter for a 600x600 standard suspended ceiling scheme.

The 300 version costs £604 per unit. It disinfects spaces 2-3.5m in height with an area of 5-15 square metres. The 600 version covers spaces up to 2-5m in height with an area of 15-30 square metres, and costs £1180 per unit.

The CT-X3 Hybrid Upper Air UVC LED Unit

This clever machine blends upper and direct disinfection, making it perfect for changing rooms, loos, lifts and other small spaces where people don’t linger for long. There’s direct line of sight disinfection when the space is unoccupied, plus continual upper air disinfection whether the space contains people or not, triggered by intelligent sensors. Like all of our tech it’s easy to fit, comes with low running costs, and there’s no extra work or chemicals involved. The cost? £780per unit.

Let’s discuss keeping people safe at your place

As we write, numerous large organisations are looking to get their workforce back into their corporate buildings. Our tech will help your people settle back in and feel more confident about their health and safety. If you run a school, the government says there’ll soon be a grant available to spend on ventilation and air purification. As well as supporting businesses and other organisations with excellent value, wholly reliable covid air purification, we can also handle the ventilation side of your covid safety project. Does that sound good? Let’s talk covid safety.

Scientists predict the future evolution of covid in 2022

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 10:00:05 GMT

As the pandemic rolls on with no real sign of slowing, the virus has been busy evolving. So what do the science people say about covid in 2022? And how do their predictions affect the appeal of our popular, highly effective covid-killing UVC robots? As it turns out, business owners will need to make every effort to keep people safe on their premises. Here’s why.

There’s no guarantee future variants will be less dangerous
So far we’ve seen numerous covid variants pop up, and there’s no reason to believe Omicron is the last one. Far from it. There’s also no scientific reason to believe the next variant of concern won’t be the most dangerous yet.

At the same time we’ve heard some people in the media talking about ‘now that covid is on the way out’ – which is certainly isn’t. We will see more variants, and they will trigger more waves around the world.

Covid’s only job is to survive
Like every virus, covid has one job and one job only – to survive whatever happens. To survive it needs to infect as many of us as it can, and that means evolving into variants that are better at spreading, more transmissible.

The original covid variant saw each infected person infecting 2-3 others. Delta infects 6-7. Omicron infects even more, and scientists are currently working on the exact number. Delta and Omicron are both better than the original variant at replicating themselves, which means infected people shed more of the virus.

Right now ‘most people in the world’ already have a degree of covid immunity thanks to past infection or vaccination. This is why the new variants we’re seeing, like Omicron, are busy trying to evolve their way out of immunity by changing the spike proteins that our antibodies target.

Is there a limit to how infectious covid can get?
There is a limit to how infectious it can get, but there’s no limit on the virus’s ability to evade the human body’s immune response. This means we could see a constant stream of new variants over the next years and even decades.

Over time the different lineages of the virus that have evolved might stick around, diverge, or go extinct. This means we’ll probably need to create different kinds of vaccinations to handle the variations, perhaps combined into one dose like the flu vaccine is.

Why covid is unlikely to evolve into something less harmful
Some say new viruses will evolve to cause milder symptoms. Sadly they’re wrong. Covid is at its most infectious just before you get symptoms, which means there’s no selective pressure for the virus to become milder. We’ve already seen this with Smallpox, a lethal disease that became worse over time, and the same goes for flu, which still comes with a worryingly high yearly death toll.

Animals are another worry
We already know the virus is circulating in various animal populations. Scientists suspect covid is circulating in a lot more species we don’t yet know about. This could generate new variants to jump back into humans.

Immunity fades with time
Immunity through illness or vaccinations fades away as time passes. If you’ve had a booster in 2021, you’re likely to need another in 2022, as the virus steadily works its way through the Greek alphabet. The next variant ‘of concern’ will be rho. Are you ready?

Are you ready for rho?
Variants come and variants go. But our reliable, affordable LED UVC light robots do a top job of destroying the virus’s DNA and RNA whatever the variant, leaving it unable to reproduce.
Our virus killing machines give businesses a powerful competitive advantage in today’s covid world. If you’d like to find out more about protecting your premises, people, visitors, suppliers and customers from current and future covid variants, get in touch.

More infectious but less severe?

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 14:05:05 GMT

The truth about Omicron.

Countries like Australia, which did incredibly well at battling the spread of the original variants, are struggling to control Omicron, and their health systems are already creaking under the weight of thousands of new cases. Most of those who are being hospitalised with Omicron are either unvaccinated or otherwise vulnerable. So far we know Omicron is more infectious but less severe. So what’s going on? Here are the facts about the latest variant to sweep the world.

More infectious but less deadly
The global number of confirmed covid cases is at a record high at the moment thanks to Omicron. The variant displays 50 or so mutations compared to the original, and it’s a lot more infectious than all previous variants. At the same time we’re seeing a lower proportion of hospitalisations and deaths.
One reason Omicron is less severe is the sheer number of people whose jabs and previous infections are protecting them against serious disease. Another seems to be that the variant is ‘inherently less likely’ to cause dangerous symptoms. And a much higher proportion of people are asymptomatic, spreading the virus without realising they’ve been infected.

Is Omicron inherently less dangerous?
Animal research supports the ‘inherently less dangerous’ theory. A piece of research by a team at the University of Liverpool revealed mice became less ill and recovered faster from Omicron. The results of other early animal studies seem to agree. The reason is the variant infects cells slightly differently.

Omicron’s weird spike protein action
Usually, the covid spike protein attaches itself to a protein called ACE2, which sticks out of most human cells. The spike protein gets cut by another protein, TMPRSS2, which forces the virus to release its contents into the cell.
Omicron is different because the spike protein doesn’t get cut outside the human cell. The virus first becomes enveloped inside the cell’s membrane before being ‘pinched off’ into a little container inside the cell. Then the spike protein gets cut by proteins, this time called cathepsins. The whole process takes more time and is uncannily similar to the way SARS infects people, just less deadly.

What does this mean for people who catch omicron?
The results of this and many other tests reveal Omicron is more likely to infect the nose than the lungs, effectively morphing the original covid variant from an infection of the lower respiratory tract to one of the upper respiratory tract. As a result higher levels of virus in saliva means Omicron spreads unusually fast when people talk, shout, cough or sing.

What about future variants?
We have no idea why Omicron has turned out this way. One thing, though, is clear. There’s no guarantee that future variants will be less dangerous. Sadly, viruses don’t work that way.

Scientists are busy finding out more about omicron
All these early findings about Omicron are ‘preliminary and need to be confirmed’. Scientists are still appealing to people and governments to ‘tread cautiously’ in their ‘interpretations of everything.’

Yes, our UVC disinfecting robots kill omicron!
Omicron may be a new variant but it’s still a coronavirus, still killed off highly effectively by our brilliant UVC LED covid disinfection machines. Find out more – call or email us for an exciting discussion about a bright future for your business.

Covid predictions for 2022

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:24:07 GMT

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Yahoo UK news reports on a ‘gifted’ London psychic who apparently predicted covid back in 2018. He is currently forecasting a second pandemic, this time of Swine Flu. Sadly he can’t say exactly when it’s going to happen. At the same time Baba Vanga, another mystic, reveals predictions around a deadly new virus coming out of Siberia in 2022.

It might seem nutty at first glance but in fact, they have a point. Humanity is indeed at constant risk of swine flu breaking out from the pig population to infect humans. And Siberia, whose permafrost is melting fast thanks to global warming, could indeed be the source of a horrible new virus. There’s more in the shape of a current ‘record’ bird flu epidemic going on in the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-latest-situation-avian-influenza-prevention-zone-declared-across-great-britain , another virus that could easily species-hop into humans if we’re unlucky.

In the meantime we thought it’d be useful to take a look at what three reliable sources are predicting for the covid pandemic in 2022!

‘Today’ asks 10 public health experts about covid in 2022
Over in the USA, in a conversation with ten public health experts, the Today programme https://www.today.com/health/health/will-life-covid-19-2022-rcna8700 reveals these predictions for the next covid year. Because attitudes to covid and experiences of it in the UK and US are not dissimilar, these are worth taking note of:

Omicron is potentially going to cause chaos
We should expect more new variants – it’s a certainty rather than a risk
The hope is the expected 2022 omicron surge won’t be as bad as delta in 2021, thanks to vaccination
‘Learning to live with covid’ in 2022 will mean vaccines, masks, testing and new anti-viral ‘tools’ in the form of medicines and drugs – all of which are designed to make people feel more confident about taking risks rather than being about stopping the spread of the virus – which in turn hints they think covid is here for good
Vaccine hesitancy must be tackled
Things should start to gradually feel ‘more normal’

What Fierce Pharma says
Fierce Pharma https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/omicron-extending-pandemic-how-does-impact-biopharma-industry-planning-for-2022 reports on the pharmaceutical sector, and they have predictions of their own to make about covid in 2022:

Omicron is effectively extending the life of the pandemic. There’s now very little chance that it will transition into an endemic disease during 2022
A continual flow of new variants is expected since global cases are still rising ‘quite significantly’. The peaks we saw in 2021 could easily be exceeded this year
Vaccine makers and others in the pharma sector are scrambling to find new drugs to treat and prevent omicron.
The world’s new mRNA expertise means new vaccines and treatments can hopefully be developed comparatively quickly
Most of the best treatments invented so far don’t work so well on the omicron variant
Covid is going to become ‘the new norm’

University College London on long term covid forecasting
University College London https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/covid-19/forecasting/ has made some predictions for covid in 2022 using long-term computer forecasting models. This is what they predict, and the article contains a wealth of fascinating supporting detail:

The R number is 6.76, a 74% increase on the average since 1st February 2020
The basic reproduction number for omicron is rising at an ‘unprecedented rate’
The 7 day average of daily deaths is likely to remain at 150 per day, falling slowly to 60 a day by April 2022
The R number will peak at about 7 over the winter, but it hasn’t peaked yet

It looks like it’ll be a covid 2022
We’ve scoured the internet to find more predictions and they all say much the same thing. Omicron is still spreading, there will be more variants, the pharma sector is busy making new drugs, medicines and vaccines, and while businesses may be able to stay open and strict restrictions might not happen, people will remain at risk of covid.

More of the same, then... and that means you need one of our brilliant covid disinfection robots to keep your business safe, alive, and well.

Science Matters

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:24:06 GMT

15 links to covid killing UV light research.

It’s always worrying to see covid anti-science doing the rounds, with false news the name of the game far too often. It’s our job to provide our customers and prospective buyers with the truth, the real story, the science behind the pandemic that has now entered its third year.

We’ve suffered a covid-blighted 2020 and 2021, now we’re facing an equally uncertain 2022. Luckily one scientific truth shines out. UV light – specifically UVC light – has been used to kill viruses for decades in healthcare settings. It works hard to kill covid as well as killing off horrors like Ebola, SARS, MERS, and various hospital-acquired infections. And we use it to build covid killer robots that save businesses and keep people safe.

If you’d like to read the research and satisfy yourself that UVC light kills covid very effectively indeed, here are 15 links to scientific studies into the exceptional disinfecting power of UVC.

15 links to studies into covid-killing UVC light

Ultraviolet radiation and SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus – On this page the USA’s Federal Drug Administration (FDA) confirms the role of UV radiation in killing covid-19 https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/uv-lights-and-lamps-ultraviolet-c-radiation-disinfection-and-coronavirus
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine – does ultraviolet (UV) light kill the coronavirus? The answer is a definitive ‘yes’. https://www.nationalacademies.org/based-on-science/covid-19-does-ultraviolet-light-kill-the-coronavirus
PubMed – The US National Library of Medicine looks into ultraviolet irradiation doses for coronavirus inactivation, reviewing and analysing a number of photo inactivation studies https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32547908/
Healthline looks into the facts and myths around using UV light to kill the coronavirus https://www.healthline.com/health/does-uv-kill-coronavirus
Science Daily explores how a safer UV light at 222 nanometre wavelength effectively kills covid https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200917105345.htm
The Scotsman reveals a ‘revolutionary’ study into the use of UV light to kill covid in public places https://www.scotsman.com/health/revolutionary-study-into-use-of-ultraviolet-light-to-kill-covid-19-in-public-places-gains-new-funding-3180683
Health Europa writes about the study that showed 99.9% of coronaviruses are killed by far-UVC light https://www.healtheuropa.eu/study-shows-99-9-of-coronaviruses-killed-by-far-uvc-light/100930/
Israel 21C reports about how you can kill covid with the flick of a switch thanks to ultraviolet LED lights https://www.israel21c.org/you-can-kill-covid-with-a-flick-of-a-switch-study-shows/
Cedars Sinai talks about the reduced viral loads they see in covid patients treated with UVA light, another use for the light that has been proven to kill the virus in indoor spaces https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/reduced-viral-loads-seen-in-covid-19-patients-treated-with-uva-light/
A number of people, including one scientist from St Andrews University in Scotland, discusses whether UVC lighting is the way to a covid-free future https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fife/2851542/is-uvc-lighting-the-way-to-a-covid-19-free-future-st-andrews-university-scientist-in-prestigious-who-webinar/
In LEDs magazine, Boston University, USA, validates UVC light for killing covid https://www.ledsmagazine.com/lighting-health-wellbeing/article/14177977/boston-university-validates-signify-uvc-for-coronavirus-deactivation
If you’re science-minded and can handle the pure research, Nature magazine looks into how Far-UVC light at 222nm efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67211-2
Science Daily reports specifically on the effectiveness of UV-C light for killing covid 19 on N95 respirators https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200922135749.htm
The World Health Organisation (WHO) held a Webinar about disinfection using Ultraviolet Radiation https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2021/12/17/default-calendar/online-webinar-disinfection-using-ultraviolet-radiation
News Medical Life Sciences reports on using UV for sterilisation https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Using-UV-for-Sterilization.aspx

The tip of the science iceberg
This is the tip of an enormous and growing iceberg. Search Google for science about UVC disinfection and the list is endless. Now you know for sure the light works o kill covid as well as a host more nasty coronaviruses and other pathogens, let’s talk about our fantastic covid killing UVC robots.

Omicron booster protection drops within 10 weeks

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:24:01 GMT

Omicron’s unusually high transmissibility means it’s a worry. Yes, it comes with a lower risk of hospitalisation, 15-20% lower than delta. If you’re hospitalised you’re 40-45% less likely to be in hospital for a night or more, and a study at Imperial College London has found a ‘moderate decrease in hospitalisation risk’ for omicron patients. But at the same time the research suggests there’s ‘no reduction in the severity of omicron’ compared to delta for people who have been jabbed twice, which hints omicron isn’t actually any milder than delta. At the same time it looks like two jabs isn’t going to be enough to combat omicron, and a booster will only keep you safe for a short time.

As Deepti Gurdasani from Queen Mary University of London said before the festivities kicked off, “Multi-layered mitigations and limiting socialisation over Christmas is still vitally important.” Obviously that didn’t happen. We’re not likely to see further restrictions in England before the New Year, either. And now there’s a new study that appears to show immunity from vaccines wanes faster with omicron. Maybe the boosters we’re being given won’t keep us safe for very long. Here’s the science.

Omicron immunity via booster vaccines doesn’t last long
Apparently the protection against omicron that we get from booster vaccines starts to drop away within ten weeks. The science, by the UK Health Security Agency, analysed around 147,000 people with delta and around 68,500 omicron cases. They discovered the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are ‘less effective against omicron than delta’.

If you’ve had two initial Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs, the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna boosters are about 60% effective at stopping symptomatic omicron 2 - 4 weeks after your third dose. But it drops back dramatically to 35 – 45% within 10 weeks. If you’ve had two initial doses of Pfizer/BioNTech, Pfizer booster protection falls from 70% at 2-4 weeks to 45% 10 weeks later. Moderna fares better at 70 – 75% protection for up to 9 weeks.

The UKHSA also says omicron patients are 50 – 70% less at risk of a hospital stay compared with delta, more than the 15-20% found by an earlier Imperial College London study. Obviously the omicron picture is still developing as it rages around the UK, in England in particular. According to SAGE, modelling predicts omicron’s severity would need to be about 90% lower than delta to avoid the levels of hospitalisation we saw in previous waves.

In the meantime The UK keeps recording record-breaking daily case numbers and the Office for National Statistics says around 1.4 million of us had the virus in the week before Xmas, the highest since autumn 2020.

How do I keep my customers safe from covid?
What’s the future for omicron? It could hit us hard then fade fast. It could stick around for months. It could morph into another variant simply because so many of us are catching it and we’re giving it so many opportunities to do so.

Some say the only way to stay safe, keep customers safe and keep your business going is to shut down. We say use one of our proven covid disinfection robots run on beautiful, clean UVC light that’s lethal to coronaviruses and makes spaces safe within minutes. It could make all the difference between survival and going under.

When the future is this uncertain, we’ll bring some certainty to your business. Let’s talk.

UK Covid News

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:23:57 GMT

Isolation changes, game changing drugs and more

The business owners we talk to are all super-keen to keep going through the pandemic. They’re the trailblazers, the innovators, the front-liners. They’ve tried every method available to keep going. They’ve put in place anti-virus protections and procedures. They’ve fought to survive... and they’re still fighting.

We salute you.

As we enter 2022, effectively the third year of the pandemic, humanity’s store of knowledge about covid keeps growing and changing, along with the virus itself. Here are some of the latest facts about the illness that’s changing our world forever.

7 day isolation is almost as good as 10 days
If you’ve tested positive in England you’ll need to isolate for seven rather than the original ten days, as long as you’ve had two negative rapid lateral flow tests, one on day six of your isolation and the second on day 7. On the other hand officials say you should still work at home if possible, avoid crowds, and take huge care around vulnerable people. If you haven’t been fully vaccinated and you’re isolating because you’ve encountered someone who has tested positive, you still need to isolate for the full 10 days.

UK focuses on drugs designed to prevent severe covid
We predict drugs like sotrovimab, molnupiravir and Paxlovid will become household names through 2022, used soon after infection to prevent serious symptoms in high risk people. The first covid antiviral pill can already be taken at home, and the most vulnerable of all can ask for antibody infusions the moment they test positive.

2021 has seen new treatments developed to protect people when they first become infected and their symptoms are mild. Everyone’s hoping this will mean people get less poorly and fewer need to go to hospital. The UK National Institute for Health Research says these drugs are ‘potentially game-changing’.

The intravenous therapy sotrovimab harnesses a man-made antibody that blocks the virus. It can protect you from re-infection for at least 4 weeks as well as reducing severe symptoms.
The oral treatment molnupiravir looks likely to cut hospital admissions by 30% when taken within 5 days of infection. Molnupiravir can’t be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women and there are some concerns around the drug kicking off another variant, simply because it works by forcing multiple viral mutations that kill the virus.
Paxlovid is another antiviral pill. With luck it might cut the risk of developing severe covid by almost 90% by blocking an enzyme covid needs to reproduce. It’s under review in the UK at the moment, not yet in use, although the FDA approved it for use in the USA on 22nd December.

New variants are unavoidable
It isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. While vaccines will remain at the heart of humanity’s battle against covid, the inevitable new variants we’ll see in future make the treatments for covid we’ve talked about vitally important. And there are more on the way – including the long-acting antibody injection Evusheld.

Snippets of covid news from around the world

Israel is offering people fourth dose of covid vaccine to health workers, those over 60, and people with weak immune systems who had their third shot at least four months ago
Omicron is the dominant coronavirus variant in the US
England stands out as remaining mostly open against a landscape where most countries are taking extra covid precautions. The scientific community is very concerned and some say we’re living in a giant petri-dish, being subjected to an enormous medical experiment
The Welsh government announced a ban on spectators at sporting events from 26th December
The Mayor of London has cancelled New Year celebrations in Trafalgar Square
The EU has authorised another vaccine, this time by Novavax, designed for 18s and over. It’s the 5th vaccine they’ve approved
Italy has banned New Years Eve celebrations, and banned all concerts and open air events until the end of January in an effort to curb omicron
Australia plans to close the gap between second doses and boosters from five months to four months on 4th January, then again to three months at the end of January

It’s time to get our UVC covid killer robots on the case!
This is a traditional time of year for reflection. Covid has been affecting businesses since March 2020, now it’s 2022. This is our world, and no scientist would claim covid is going to go away. It’s here for good and until we learn to live with it in an effective way, your business needs to offer a good level of safety to employees, visitors, suppliers and customers. Let’s talk about how a UVC covid killing robot will keep your premises safe and clean.

Wishing our customers a safe, happy festive season

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:23:51 GMT

Can you remember what it feels like to be able to mingle freely with the people you love, with strangers, with crowds? It seems like a long time ago. The world has changed profoundly and it’s unlikely to go back to what we used to call ‘normal’ for years, decades, maybe forever. On the other hand it’s Christmas – so let’s forget it for a week and enjoy ourselves!

Wishing you, your family and loved ones a peaceful, safe festive season
We’re obviously heading for difficult times. The start of 2022 isn’t going to be pretty. But we’d like to wish all of our customers, their colleagues, families and friends a safe and happy festive season and a 2022 that’s better than 2021.

Covid now and in the future
Most scientists these days acknowledge covid has gone too far, too fast to deal with in a way that’ll take us back to the good old days. It’s highly likely we’ll see annual outbreaks of covid, some serious enough to see some countries having to close down altogether and others having to impose restrictions.

We’re certain to see more variants emerging, especially in countries where the vaccination rates are low – like Africa – or have slowed right down and fallen behind other countries after a great start, like the UK. And the more people catch covid – whatever the variant – the more likely it is that a really nasty variant will arise that kills us off with horrible efficiency.

The only way to prevent more variants is to get everyone vaccinated, take restrictions around social distancing seriously, and do everything you can to keep covid off your menu.

Use UVC covid killer robots to keep your business alive
Our covid killing UVC robots are a brilliant way to clean surfaces and the air, leaving it safe for your staff, visitors, and customers. Will you treat your business to reliable, proven covid safety in 2022?

The latest news about omicron - A powerful new variant

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:23:47 GMT

In a week when pregnant women have finally been given the OK to have their jabs, omicron is moving super-fast. It’s doubling in no time and has already put delta into the shade. Those in power are dithering again, uncertain whether to wait and let everyone have a good Christmas first, or apply lockdown-style restrictions now and save lives. Whatever you think about the government, theirs isn’t a job we’d want right now!

Here’s the latest news about omicron, direct from the scientists doing the research, via New Scientist magazine. Read this and you’ll be in a position of knowledge, hopefully able to make better decisions at a time when decision making is extremely difficult.

Dangerous omicron mutations and how they happened
Omicron has 50-ish mutations compared to the original covid that came out of China, 30 of which are in its outer spike protein, the place our bodies’ antibodies target. These changes reduce the protective power of the antibodies we get from vaccinations and previous covid infections, and this ‘particularly dangerous’ set of mutations is apparently very worrying.

Nobody knows how omicron managed to acquire so many dangerous mutations, and we probably never will. It could have happened thanks to just one immunocompromised person. Some speculate it may have been someone with HIV in South Africa who wasn’t getting the treatment they needed. Viruses are usually killed by a normal immune response but if your system is compromised some viruses can keep replicating, ultimately evolving into a virus that’s better at evading antibodies.

There’s another theory, that covid infected animals, collected mutations as it spread, then hopped back into humans. Some people have pinned the blame on mice in labs but there’s no evidence for that. It ‘seems highly unlikely’. Others wonder whether the new variant evolved slowly as it spread between humans, but there’s no evidence for that either. There’s also no evidence for the drug molnupiravir playing a part.

Where did omicron begin?
The earliest confirmed omicron cases were found in South Africa and Botswana, but the variant seems to have been spreading since early October. We still have no idea where it began, although it seems likely it arose in the south of Africa simply because that’s where we saw the first wave of omicron. None of the early cases found in other countries pre-date the first African cases.

How likely are we to be re-infected by omicron?
A new study of UK health workers reveals those who had the alpha variant before being double jabbed against the original virus have a worse antibody response to the original virus and beta, than those who had the original virus then been double jabbed. On the other hand the first group had better antibody responses to delta. As the head of the team said, “It’s very variant-specific and quite unpredictable. If you have got people in different parts of the globe exposed to different waves of infection, you have got people with different immune repertoires. It’s dangerous to draw too many conclusions.”

‘England must act before Christmas’ – but the public is already doing the decent thing
It’s interesting to see that, no matter what the official message is, ordinary people are wearing face masks again, steering clear of crowds, and cutting their festive plans down to a safer and more sensible size. While the politicians tear each other apart we seem to be quietly, sensibly getting on with keeping ourselves and the people we love safe.

If you’d like to explore the proven power of UVC LED light for killing covid stone dead in minutes, get in touch. In the meantime, happy festivities!

Lies, craziness and danger – The world’s nuttiest covid cures

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:30:02 GMT

Around the world thousands of brilliant scientists are doing everything they can to discover cures, treatments, and even better vaccines to support the ongoing fight against covid. Sadly we’re also seeing plenty of nutty cures, crazy pronouncements, and out-there ideas around how to steer clear of covid and treat it if you get it. There’s even a Wikipedia page detailing all the many unproven treatment methods against covid . So let’s look at some of the latest and craziest anti-covid ideas from around the world.

Don’t pin your hopes on convalescent plasma
It’s a thought. You take convalescent plasma from people who have recently been infected with covid, then you inject it into yourself and lo and behold... nothing happens. The World Health Organisation confirms convalescent plasma is definitely not an effective treatment for covid 19.

Eccentric covid treatments that don’t work
There’s a huge and growing list of substances and methods people have tried to stay safe from covid or recover from it. Take the salt water sprays given out at a church in South Korea. Everyone used the same unclean bottle and 46 people were infected.

Vinegar was widely promoted in Brazil but there is no evidence that the acetic acid it contains has any effect on covid. Home-made hand sanitiser made from rum, bleach and fabric softener was a trend in the Philippines for a while, but because mixing bleach and alcohol results in chloroform, which is toxic when inhaled or touches the skin, it was a very bad idea.

The colour white has no effect on the virus at all, despite a widely-shared Facebook post claiming white hankies were the only thing that would keep people safe. Volcanic ash from the Taal volcano in the Philippines doesn’t kill the virus, either. And making DIY face masks out of wet wipes is a very silly idea. Don’t do it.

Forget the drug abuse route!
Don’t bother buying the three hundred US dollar Dark Web treatment containing speed, cocaine and nicotine. It won’t cure covid or stop you getting it. Cocaine on its own doesn’t work, either. Cannabis doesn’t cure covid no matter what one popular Youtube video claimed. And despite what Fox News said at one point, nor does CBD oil.

You can boil Betel leaves until you’re blue in the face but it won’t help you avoid covid. Nor does the incredibly nasty substance industrial ethanol, which is a lot more likely to kill you than cure you. Around 300 Iranian people died trying, and 1000 were hospitalised.

Commercial products that don’t work against covid
It’s worrying to see a growing list of commercially-available preparations and even lifestyle choices being touted as useful when they’re simply fraudulent and unproven. And it’s sad to know some people would rather try these than have a vaccination that has been proven, by billions of people, to work.

None of these will help you avoid covid or cure it:

Virus shut-out pendants and lanyards
Homeopathy
Anthroscopic medicine
Cow urine and dung
Religious ablutions
Lemons, bananas, mango and onions
Cups of tea
Curry
Vegetarianism
Oleandrin
Colloidal silver
Toothpaste
Table salt
Traditional Chinese medicine
Hand creams
Sap from the makabuhay plant, the poisonous fruit of the datura plant, the Artemisia plant or the andrographis paniculata plant
TV evangelism – touching the screen won’t work!
Garlic, neem leaves, avocado, or turmeric

The truth is...
The only way, so far, to stay safe from a serious bout of covid is to have your vaccinations and boosters. The only way to avoid catching it in the first place is to wear a mask and socially distance. And the only way to kill the virus off in minutes rather than hours or days is to use clean, pure LED UVC light at a certain wavelength, for a certain amount of time. If you’d like to add an extra layer of safety to your business in addition to distancing and mask-wearing, let’s talk.

The latest news about omicron – A ‘large wave’ underway

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 11:14:06 GMT

“We’re getting large numbers of cases and that will result in a large number of hospitalisations and, unfortunately, it will result in a large number of deaths, I’m pretty sure of that.” John Edmunds, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The location: Oslo in Norway. The event: a Christmas party. When 80 out of 111 people attending a party were infected with covid and genetic sequencing was carried out, 17 of the cases were omicron. The scientists looking into the hot-spot say they suspect the other cases were also omicron.

Most of the people involved had two doses of vaccine, which just goes to show how infectious omicron is.
A variant nobody had heard of until late November has crossed the world, and it’s already too late to stop it. Let’s take a look at the latest news about omicron. Thank you as usual to New Scientist magazine for providing the truth.

The good news - Three Pfizer/BioNTech jabs neutralise omicron
The good news... apparently three Pfizer/BioNTech injections are enough to neutralise the omicron variant, or so say new tests by the vaccine’s makers. They took blood samples about a month after people’s third dose and found the antibodies neutralised omicron as effectively as two jabs dealt with the original covid virus.

The bad news – Is omicron spreading faster here than South Africa?
In South Africa they’ve just seen a surge in cases of 225% in just one week. It looks like the number of omicron cases in the UK is doubling every 2-3 days, which means we’re on track for a ‘large wave of omicron cases and deaths in the next few months’ ourselves. The news comes from experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, one of whom is a member of SAGE.

One group advising the UK government says if omicron behaves the same way here as it does in South Africa, the peak will be ‘much larger’ than we saw here in January 2021. And that means ‘very stringent measures’ will be needed to keep the R number down to less than 1.

Scientists say genetic sequencing suggests the new variant has actually been around since mid-October and might even be spreading even faster in the UK than its supposed country of origin, South Africa. At the current growth rate we could see 60,000 cases of omicron a day before Christmas. Right now UK cases are rising 8% per cent week-on-week, hospital admissions are going up just under 4%, and deaths are up by 0.7%. But The predictions don’t stop there.

The biggest question?
All this begs a crucial question. We have failed to prevent omicron. So can we prevent other variants from happening? Not while we let the virus run wild in the UK. Not when just 8% of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated and other countries are struggling to inoculate their people. And not while we fail to donate enough vaccines to poor nations. We need to do a lot better than this.

Think UVC covid killer robots and stay safer
Thankfully, so far, it looks like the omicron variant may not be as serious as previous variants. The next one might be a lot more harmful, or a lot less. Nobody knows. It could go either way. In the meantime, experts say we should know how effective current vaccines are against the new variant by Christmas.
Watch this space and come back for the latest news on omicron and how it might affect the nation. Have you considered investing in a covid-killing UVC light yet? It could save your business as well as help you save lives.

Masks, distancing, hand-washing, and the 2021 flu season

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 13:00:09 GMT

Thank you, as usual to New Scientist magazine. In a world where the truth can be in short supply, it provides the truth about every aspect of the covid pandemic. If you want to know what’s really going on out there, read on!

Study review reinforces the importance of masks and handwashing
A team from Monash University in Australia has analysed 72 different scientific studies to find out which are the most effective anti-covid ‘non-pharmaceutical interventions’. And the winners were face coverings, handwashing, and social distancing, which are all highly effective in the fight to prevent covid spreading any faster than it already is. Mask wearing scored the highest, one of the most effective public health measures of all. It cuts covid incidence by an impressive 53%.

Hand washing also slashed covid incidence by 53% but there were so few studies into it that the results weren’t statistically reliable. And physical distancing cuts covid incidence by a handy 25%. In conclusion the team reported further control of the pandemic will require a blend of vaccination and ‘ongoing adherence to effective and sustainable public health measures’ including washing hands, steering clear of people, and wearing a face mask.

How bad will the 2021 flu season be?
The flu vaccine season has kicked off and plenty of us are already being asked to have our third covid ‘booster’ jab along with our flu jab. At the same time, because flu vaccines only work against the specific coronaviruses they’re designed to handle, we’re in an uncertain position right now.

Scientists started making this year’s flu vaccine about nine months ago because growing vaccines in hen’s eggs is such a slow process. The timing is always an issue because the process has to begin before anyone really knows which flu strains will be around in the coming winter, and which will pose the biggest threat. It’s hard to predict, and sometimes the experts get it wrong.

Obviously this year is unique. It’s harder than ever to predict what’s coming, and many experts are worried. While officials in the northern hemisphere usually make a guess by looking at which flu strains are doing their thing in the southern hemisphere, covid means there was almost no flu in the south this year, including nothing to speak of throughout the Australian and New Zealand winter.

There’s more. People’s immunity to flu has dropped during the pandemic, which means the illness could return ‘with a vengeance’ this winter and cause havoc. It’s also possible that current circulating strains may have had less chance to evolve during the pandemic, which is good news – in fact one of the human flu coronaviruses, B/Yamagata, has already gone extinct.

Right now there are fewer cases of flu globally than usual for this time of year. Let’s hope it stays that way.

AI predicts which wild animals pose the biggest covid threat
When coronaviruses hop between species, terrible things can happen. So it’s wise to have a handle on which mammals might be at the most risk of spreading covid even further . An innovative new AI algorithm uses mammals’ locations and lifestyle data to crunch the numbers, and it has come up with an at-risk list that mirrors the results found in lab experiments. Apparently mink, Sunda pangolins and bats are some of the most at-risk, the most likely to spread covid.

Kill coronaviruses – including flu – with our UVC robots
Flu is a coronavirus. Our robots kill coronaviruses, and that includes the coronaviruses that give us flu. Our machines also kill a host more horribles, including Ebola, SARS, MERS and various hospital acquired infections. And that means we’re the future of air and surface disinfection. There’s no better way to keep the air, surfaces, and therefore people safe at your premises, and it takes no time to disinfect a space. If that sounds like a sensible business-supporting idea, let’s discuss the potential.

Covid news – What will your covid festive season look like?

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 23:00:02 GMT

As the annual festivities approach, people are starting to wonder what’ll happen at Christmas. Here’s some of the latest covid news, fresh from the world’s science community, to help you make wise decisions.

Unvaccinated? You’re 14 times more likely to die
If you’re not vaccinated you’re at 14 times more risk of dying from covid than people who are fully vaccinated. That’s what the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have figured out, and the picture in the UK is similar.

As well as being a lot more likely to die of covid, unvaccinated people are six times more at risk of testing positive
196.4 million people in the US are fully vaccinated and More than 36 million have had a booster
But more than 47 million US adults and 12.4 million US teens haven’t been fully vaccinated

In the UK one expert says that covid is ‘no longer a disease of the vaccinated’. It’s unvaccinated people who end up in intensive care. And Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, calls the sight of unvaccinated people fighting for breath in hospital an ‘ongoing horror’.

New lateral flow advice from the UK government
If you’re in England and want to go somewhere indoors and crowded, the government says you should take a lateral flow test first. If you’re visiting a high risk person, you might also want to consider taking a test first to keep them safe. This is the first time we’ve been officially advised to have a test before some activities.

12 – 15 year olds are safe with Pfizer for at least 4 months
Good news – Pfizer/BioNTech is apparently 100% per cent effective in 12-15 year olds for at least four months after their second jab. The phase 3 trial revealed no cases in people who had their two doses, and no serious health concerns have turned up, either.

The proven power of face masks
Mask wearing is one of the most effective covid health measures for preventing the virus spreading.
It provides a 53% reduction in the incidence of the disease. Handwashing is highly effective, although the size of the study was too small to be certain about. Physical distancing comes with a 25% reduction in the risk of catching covid. These ‘effective and sustainable’ public health measures sit at the heart of what it will take to beat covid, along with full vaccination.

The world struggles under more waves
The EU is struggling to cope with a number of waves. Germany is sinking under its fourth wave, as is Austria, now in its fourth lockdown. Ireland is seeing more cases and in China they’ve just applied strict covid rules in preparation for the Winter Olympics in 2022. Over in the USA Anthony Fauci has fired a shot across official bows, claiming time is running out to prevent a dangerous surge. Coronavirus cases in the US are rising again, and they’re seeing more than 100,000 new cases a day. Thanksgiving probably didn’t help. He says every US adult who’s eligible for a booster jab should get one as the country heads into the holiday season.

Are you ready to make a wise UVC covid disinfection decision yet?
Every great business has a USP, a Unique Selling Point. Making sure your premises is frequently disinfected with lovely, powerful, clean UVC light means you kill off a large array of horrid pathogens including Ebola, SARS, MERS and covid in no time. If, like scientists, you can’t see the end of the covid tunnel happening any time soon, now might be the time to get a robot and use it as another USP – ‘we are not like other businesses. We are protecting our people and customers in every way we can’.

The latest covid disinfection news – December 2021

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 12:51:07 GMT

The good news? Three covid vaccines used as boosters in a UK trial have proved safe, generating good, strong immune responses. The research involved 2878 adults aged 30 plus, all of whom had already been given two doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The participants were given their boosters 10-12 weeks after their second jab.

The study measured antibodies and T cells in people’s blood. Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca all gave strong antibody and T cell responses, no matter which vaccine people had for their first two doses. It looks like people’s immunity increased, although nobody yet knows how well people are protected from infection or disease.

The trial took place back when alpha was the dominant UK variant in the UK. Those involved say that while the trial doesn’t reveal how effective boosters are against omicron, “the T cell data is showing us that it does seem to be broader against all the variant strains, which gives us hope that a variant strain of the virus might be able to be handled, certainly for hospitalisation and death if not prevention of infection, by the current vaccine.”

PTSD affects UK health workers
The Royal College of Psychiatrists says there could be more than 230,000 new cases of post traumatic stress disorder in England thanks to the pandemic. They NHS Strategy Unit arrived at the number by forecasting new referrals for PTSD between 2020/21 and 22/23. Some covid patients who needed hospital care are at risk of PTSD, along with frontline healthcare staff. In fact 35% of covid patients who were on a ventilator and 40% of intensive care staff are suffering from PTSD symptoms.

Omicron travels the world
So far omicron has made it into at least 24 countries. It looks like the new variant is driving a spike in South Africa infections, and is already the dominant variant over there. On 1st December South Africa counted 8561 new covid cases, almost double the number from the day before. The country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the rise in cases isn’t down to increased testing.

Omicron accounts for 74% of 249 virus genomes sequenced by them during November. There are worries the new variant might be able to ‘get around immunity’ to some extent, but vaccinated people should still be protected against severe illness. The World Health Organization says it’s too early to tell if the new variant is more transmissible than delta.

In the meantime vaccine-makers are already adapting existing vaccines to fight omicron better, but by the time they get there the variant will probably be endemic. And the good news? As far as anyone knows, nobody has yet died of the new variant.

Unvaccinated people are more likely catch covid, and a lot more likely to die
In the latest study into the unvaccinated in the USA, scientists have revealed unvaccinated people are around 14 times more likely to die of covid than vaccinated people. The unvaccinated are also six times more likely to test positive for the virus in the first place. The picture is the same in the UK.

Keep yourself, your employees and customers safe
There’s nothing quite so good, these days, as knowing you’re safe and are keeping the people who matter to your business safe, too. Our powerful LED UVC covid killing robots let you do exactly that. Heave a sigh of relief and future-proof your business. Let’s talk UVC.

A new covid variant called Omicron, new risks, and new restrictions

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 12:49:36 GMT

Hello Omicron, goodbye peace of mind... the latest ‘variant of concern’ was first detected in South Africa just a few days ago. It’s also in the EU and we just heard there are several cases in Scotland as well as a few in England, Hong Kong, and Israel. Now it’s a matter of identifying how far it has spread and how prevalent it is compared to the previous most dangerous variant, Delta.

So what do we know about Omicron so far? Here’s some insight from New Scientist magazine, a reliable source of covid insight in a world where false news is rife and governments don’t always follow the science.

Omicron – The new kid in town
In South Africa only 24% of people are fully vaccinated so far. Now a new variant, originally called B.1.1.529, has turned up, and it seems to have escaped its home continent. The variant, now officially ‘of concern’ and named Omicron, comes with an unusually high number of mutations and has probably been responsible for a recent dramatic covid surge in South Africa.

We don’t know a lot about Omicron yet
South Africa’s Network for Genomic Surveillance and their government acted as fast as they could, immediately sharing information about the new threat. But we don’t know much about it so far and have no idea what the significance of the variant’s many mutations are.

On 11th November covid cases in South Africa numbered just 274. Two weeks later it was 1000. While that’s nothing compared to the UK, which counted 50,000 cases on 26th November alone, it made alarm bells ring. Most of the cases in South Africa are in the Gauteng area and all of the 77 cases looked at between 12th and 20th November were Omicron.

Omicron was first found on 23rd November, in samples taken on 14th – 16th. On the same day the UK Health Security Agency set up travel restrictions for people arriving from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia. On 26th The World Health Organization classed it as a ‘variant of concern’.

About Omicron’s mutations
The variant’s mutations have been called ‘very unusual’. It has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein, and other potential mutations might mean it can bypass our immune systems as well as make it more infectious and harder to treat. But we really don’t know yet. The only thing we can say for sure is that in theory, the ‘effectiveness of antibodies produced by covid-19 vaccines would be compromised.’ And that means it might be more resistant to antibody treatments like Regeneron... which is very worrying indeed. Watch this space – we’ll report on the new science and research weekly.

One good thing? So far it looks like Omicron doesn’t make the illness any more severe.

How to stay safe from Omicron
As we mentioned, nobody knows how transmissible the new variant is. If it isn’t actually as transmissible as Delta, the world will heave a sigh of relief. In the meantime all the usual applies. Social distancing, handwashing, mask-wearing, vaccines and boosters are all good. For now, that’s the best scientific advice anyone can provide.

You need UVC anti covid robot tech
This thing just keeps rumbling on. It won’t be long before we hit the two year covid anniversary. To provide your business with a measure of security, protect your people and keep customers safe against new variants of the coronavirus, we highly recommend you use one of our brilliant UVC LED covid killer robots.

Preparing for the next pandemic with a universal flu vaccine

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 12:49:28 GMT

Ask any scientist working in the field and you’ll get the same answer: yes, there will be another pandemic. It’s only a matter of time.

The risk of a deadly flu pandemic or another kind of coronavirus pandemic has always been present but now, thanks to covid, we’re a lot more aware of the dangers. So can we prepare ourselves for the next one? Apparently we can, and there has already been good progress made towards a ‘universal vaccine’ so good it could mean we don’t have to have annual flu jabs any more. Here’s what you need to know.

There’s a high risk of new coronaviruses arising and spreading
If an animal flu virus makes a leap into people, it can become a lot more deadly. Take the H1N1 bird flu which killed 1 in 20 people who caught it in 1918-19. If we had another of those running wild, it’d be a lot worse than covid.

Since the biggie everyone knows about in 1918, we’ve seen four more flu pandemics. Luckily none of them were quite as lethal. But the more birds and pigs we farm intensively, the more we crowd people and animals together in unnatural ways, and the more we rely on international travel, the bigger the risk of novel flu viruses arising, and the bigger the risk they’ll break out to infect humans.

Right now the H5N6 bird flu strain is worrying scientists, with 25 cases in humans so far in 2021 compared to just 26 between 2014 and 2020. 50% of infected people have died. Every new person infected represents another opportunity for the virus to mutate, and then spread like wildfire. And if that happened the flu vaccines we have right now would be useless, since the antibodies we produce against one flu virus quickly become ineffective against its descendants, and they simply don’t work against viruses they aren’t designed to protect us against.

How to make a universal flu vaccine
The scientists trying to make a universal flu vaccine have a tough job ahead of them, but it’s entirely possible. The task involves a combination of two main approaches, the first an antibody-led approach targeting external parts of the virus and the second encouraging a T-cell response. Tests have had varied results. One small human trial didn’t work very well, with 33% of those developing flu when exposed to the virus compared to 55% of those who hadn’t been given the jab. Ultimately, the experts reckon the best results might come from combining both approaches and using the new, innovative mRNA method used by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech to create their covid jabs.

Right now around a dozen potential universal flu vaccines are being tested in people around the world, and there are many more in the pipeline. Some have already failed miserably. But ongoing advances in vaccination technologies and the massive worldwide effort being made mean it’s only a matter of time before there’s a vaccine that works better than any of the current flu jabs, and protects us for longer.

While it isn’t likely we’ll see just one jab giving us protection for life, a year isn’t unrealistic and some say a decade or two’s worth of protection is ‘achievable’. Let’s hope it happens soon. The more prepared we are for another coronavirus pandemic, the better, If we can give a universal flu vaccine to enough people fast enough, we could potentially save millions of lives.

In the meantime... invest in proven UCV covid killer tech
When you use our UV robots to clean the air and clean every surface the light touches, you’re doing more than helping to keep the people who interact and engage with your business safe. Every single case of covid that’s prevented means there’s less chance for the virus to mutate into a dangerous variant. Would you like to give your business a brighter future? Let’s talk covid disinfection robots.

Covid, Omicron, and predicting the future in a pandemic

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 12:49:03 GMT

Two years ago covid was impossible to imagine, even though scientists had been warning the government about the risk of a pandemic for many years.

At this time last year, in 2020, plenty of people were hoping 2021 would see covid fall back and return us to something like normal.

This year, as Christmas approaches, most of us realise covid isn’t going away any time soon. We know we’ll eventually have to find ways of living with it that don’t put ourselves or other people at risk.

So is there a way to predict the future with any confidence when covid is still raging around the globe?

How to predict the future during a pandemic
The best way to predict the future at a time like this is probably to realise there’s no way to predict the future!

On the other hand we can predict some things with a level of confidence.

When a new variant pops up, we know it’s likely to spread far and wide before being pinned down
We know new variants take time to sequence and figure out. Scientists can’t just analyse a new variant’s impact and figure out how dangerous it is in a day or two
We can predict that some people, even though they’re perfectly fit and healthy, will die of covid, especially when they haven’t been vaccinated
We know vaccine-provided immunity levels fall away after a few months
We know people who have had all their jabs can still catch covid, although it’s usually mild
We know the virus’s flow and spread is still nowhere near the end

Do we know how to kill covid reliably indoors?
Yes, we know how to kill covid indoors in a matter of minutes depending on the size of the space. And this alone gives us one of the best weapons available, where predicting the future of your business is concerned.

Let’s take the six things we can predict one by one:

There’s no reason to suspect LED UVC light at the right wavelength won’t kill every new covid variant that pops up. The light is proven to kill Ebola, SARS, MERS, flu and covid, as well as hospital acquired infections and a load of other pathogens, so any new variants should be killed by UVC light, too
UVC covid killing robot tech keeps people safe while scientists work to pin down what each new variant might mean to the human race
LED UVC covid killer technology keeps vulnerable people as safe as they can be from covid and other pathogens
It works no matter how high or low a person’s immunity levels are. When covid is dead, its dead
It protects people who have had all their jabs as well as those who haven’t
It means you can keep your business going, and keep your customers and staff safe, far into the future. Having bought one of our covid killer robots, you can use it for years to come

Let’s predict better!
If you’d like to explore the potential of the UK’s covid future with experts, feel free to give our friendly people a call or send us an email.

The latest covid news – 14 key covid stories for the week

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 10:15:02 GMT

In a week when covid booster jabs are being offered to people aged 40-49 for the first time in a bid to ‘save Christmas’, we’re experiencing more interest than ever before in our UVC covid disinfection robots. When the news about the extension of booster jabs broke so did the NHS website, which crashed thanks to massive demand. Here’s the latest covid news you can trust, fresh from New Scientist magazine.

14 crucial items of covid news

The UK is still suffering from the world’s 4th highest number of covid infections, topped only by the US, India and Brazil
France and Israel are offering third booster jabs
Last week, around the world, a total of 48,000 people dies of covid
The UK is 6th in the world for covid deaths, surpassed only by Russia, Mexico, India, Brazil and the USA, which has suffered from more covid deaths than any other nation. Scientists agree the real numbers will be a lot higher – we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg reported
In Singapore they plan to refuse treatment for people who have caught covid because they refused vaccinations ‘by choice’
In Europe they’re suffering a 10% rise in covid cases in just one week, placing the continent at risk of more lockdowns – experts are predicting we may see 500,000 more deaths by February 2022 if actions are not taken to limits its spread
Some German hospitals are closing their doors to new patients thanks to high numbers of covid hospitalisations
Some healthcare workers are turning out to be resistant to covid – and they sit at the heart of new science designed to create a vaccine that kills of every kind of corona virus, including flu and covid itself
Scientists are also working on a universal flu vaccine that could prevent the next pandemic
There are hints that a skin patch might be an excellent way to absorb covid vaccines, performing even better than injections
There are worries that covid might soon break out into populations of wild animals. It has already infected white tail deer in the USA in a ‘silent epidemic’ that has become ‘rife’, and is probably already circulating in other wild animals around the world. If it hops back into humans from animals we face a bigger then ever risk of new and more dangerous variants emerging
Almost every person in Iran has already caught covid at least once, but the country has not achieved herd immunity. In fact the delta variant is creating a ‘punishing’ new wave of fatalities. Like the UK’s, Iran’s covid measures have been ‘halting and ineffective’, with mixed messages from the authorities
While Australia hasn’t had a single case of measles since covid hit, the pandemic has also disrupted immunisation plans. Experts fear there might be a ‘massive’ resurgence of measles before long, a disease that can be fatal
Fewer infections during lockdown has led to a drop of 17% in the use of antibiotics – very good news when their over-use means some diseases, like TB, are becoming immune to the drugs and there’s a worldwide antibiotic crisis on the horizon

Taken together, the news isn’t looking good
Roll all of this together and the news isn’t particularly positive. Between 8th and 14th November 2021 there were a total of 262,419 new covid cases in the UK, an increase of 6% compared to the week before. During the same week we suffered a total of 1093 deaths, down just fewer than 7%. You need one of our covid disinfection robots to keep everyone safe!

About UVC light in healthcare settings – The history of UVC disinfection

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 10:11:23 GMT

“There is a long history of investigations concluding that, if used properly, UVGI can be safe and highly effective in disinfecting the air, thereby preventing transmission of a variety of airborne infections. Despite this long history, many infection control professionals are not familiar with the history of UVGI and how it has, and has not, been used safely and effectively.” ( Link )

As we’ve mentioned before, UVC light has been used since the 1800s to kill bacteria and other unwanted organisms. Are you familiar with the amazing story of UVC disinfection? Read on for some insight into an extraordinary natural phenomenon that saves countless people from infections every year, and is set to help the world cope with a covid virus that’s unlikely to go away.

What is UVGI?
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) uses short wave UV light to kill or inactivate viruses, bacteria and more by disrupting their DNA so badly they can’t reproduce. It’s used to purify air, drinking and waste water, food and more, and is often built into filtration systems. UVGI has been used for disinfection since the mid-1900s, mostly to sanitise healthcare settings and workplaces where sterility is vital. But the germ of the idea first took root in 1845, when scientists first realised that microorganisms are vulnerable to light.

Downes and Blunts’ key UV discoveries
In 1877 two scientists called Downes and Blunt observed how exposing test tubes containing Pasteur’s solution to sunlight stopped microorganisms inside the tube growing. If they left the test tubes in the sun for long enough, they remained free of bacteria for several months. Some say this was ‘one of the most influential discoveries in all of photobiology.’ The men went on to prove the ability of sunlight to neutralise bacteria as long as the intensity, duration, and wavelength of the light was right. They found the shorter wavelengths of the solar spectrum were the most powerful, and the story of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation began.

Early UVC germicidal lamps
UVC germicidal lamps have been used since the late 1800s to kill the micro-organisms that cause indoor air quality issues, things like bacteria, mould, yeast and viruses. Niels Ryberg Finsen became the first to use UV to treat disease. He was given a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1903 for inventing the Finsen curative lamp, which was widely used right up until the 1960s.

In the 1930s, Westinghouse created the world’s first commercial UVC germicidal lamps for use in hospitals. And from 1933-35 William F Wells studied droplet nuclei expectoration, revealing UVC can kill droplets of pathogens in the air. He later proved ultraviolet germicidal irradiation stopped measles spreading in public schools, but sadly nobody ever managed to reproduce his results.

UVC technologies boom post-WW2
After the Second World War UVC was used to sterilise the air in hospitals, kitchens, meat storage, food processing, bakeries, dairies, breweries and more. Anywhere microbiological contamination was possible; they used UVC to clean it. And the 1950s saw UCV being brought into use with air handling equipment, a major player in the battle against TB.

Still discovering the magic of UVC
These findings have inspired further research into UVC disinfection, and from the 1990s onwards the research delved even deeper. These days we know exactly which band of wavelengths is the best for killing off HIV, SARS, MERS, hospital acquired infections and, of course, covid. And that’s the band we use in our covid disinfection robots technology.

We’ll help future-proof your business
We’ve come a long way since 1845. Science is still uncovering the finer details behind the many curious benefits of ultraviolet light. And our machines are perfect for helping to keep a multitude of spaces safe for people to enjoy in a covid world, from theatres and dental surgeries to shops, schools, medical centres, and healthcare settings of every kind. If you’d like to future-proof your business, get in touch for a discussion about our fantastic tech.

UVC covid disinfection news - Death tolls, restrictions, non-compliance

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 09:45:02 GMT

As usual it’s all go in our world. Here are just some of the latest covid stories designed to reveal the truth of the situation, give you the facts, and provide the science. Here’s the latest covid news.

The covid global death toll rises...
The total global recorded death toll from covid sits at five million at this point, less than two years since the virus first arrived. Around the world about 7000 people are dying of covid every day, according to research by Johns Hopkins University, USA. Sadly the true number is going to be a lot higher, with experts predicting the current death toll is more likely to be around 16.7 million deaths, including those who died from covid without knowing they had it, and people who couldn’t get treatment for other illnesses and disease because hospitals were ‘overwhelmed’ by covid cases.

Two jabs? You still have a 25% risk of catching covid
Even if you’ve had both your doses, you still face a 25% risk of catching covid from the people in your household. If you’re not vaccinated your risk leaps up to 38%. The study looked at people with the delta variant and took place between May and September 2021.
Your infection risk factor also depends on the viral load you’re exposed to, ie. how much virus is found in your nose and throat swabs. The viral load was higher in older people, and those who have been jabbed saw their viral load go down faster than unvaccinated people.

SAGE member resigns over ‘concerning’ levels of covid transmission
You advise the government, but they don’t listen. It must be very frustrating. Sir Jeremy Farrar, Head of Wellcome’s health charity, resigned from SAGE at the end of last month. He was an advocate for stricter restrictions, including mask wearing, to deal with the UK’s current infection levels, which he says remain “concerning”. Instead of carrying on as a SAGE member, he will be focusing on the work going on at Wellcome designed to support the international research effort and “end the pandemic.”

Netherlands brings back covid restrictions
The Netherlands is leading the way in bringing back covid restrictions, having – like many countries – relaxed things over the summer. People will once again be required to wear a face mask, work from home half the week wherever possible, and use covid passes to get into restaurants and museums. The country reported 7727 new covid cases on 2nd November, compared with 33,546 in the UK. The difference is enormous. The Netherlands obviously has a very different perspective on risk compared to the UK government.

Some people are not self-isolating for long enough
It looks like 25% of people aged 35 – 54 are deciding not to self-isolate for the full ten days after testing positive. The Office for National Statistics says a survey of 881 people in England, which took place in late September – early October, revealed how just 75% of people who participated isolated for ten days after a positive test, down from 86% in July. The opposite is happening for those aged 18-34 with 82% isolating properly at the moment, up from 75% in July.

Unvaccinated New Yorkers forced to take unpaid leave
About 9000 unvaccinated people in New York who work in the public sector have been put on unpaid leave. One in four New York fire fighters remain unjabbed, along with one in six of the city’s police force.

Disneyland Shanghai closes down after 1 covid case
A single visitor tested positive... and they shut the whole place down. China’s Shanghai Disneyland attraction has been closed down as the country aims for zero covid infections, a goal they want to reach in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics. On 7th November 2021 the UK registered 30,305 new infections. The disparity in the way nations are treating covid is wide, and getting wider.

Let’s talk covid killers!
Our robots kill covid in just a few minutes. The UCV light they use makes covid and other coronaviruses harmless in no time, damaged so badly they can’t reproduce or spread. If you want to keep yourself, your staff, your business partners, visitors and customers safe from covid into the future, it’s time to get busy with the LED. See our Q&A page or get in touch to talk covid killing technology!

Two cool UVC covid disinfection stories from around the globe

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 09:45:02 GMT

Boston, Massachusetts and the vast continent of India. They couldn’t be more different, but experts in both places are keen to use LED UVC robotics to keep the air and surfaces free from the covid coronavirus.

Lifegate Pharmaceuticals and UVC germicidal lighting
As reported by the India Times, rapid worldwide market growth of UV-C germicidal lighting is leading to it being seen as a ‘standard disinfection protocol’. While new products, procedures and technologies have been widely explored in the fight to disinfect objects and the air safely, UV-C germicidal lighting solutions are proving the best bet.

This supports an Allied Market Research report stating that the UV disinfection equipment market was valued at $1.3Bn in 2019, predicting the market will reach an incredible $5.7Bn by 2027, an impressive compound annual growth rate of just over 17%. This is leading some to predict the market will soon begin to grow ‘exponentially’. In India the UVC disinfection market is certainly booming, and not just for commercial and business spaces. They’re also looking into UVC for the home.

The India Times report reveals how automated UV-C light-based surface disinfection equipment compares with manual cleaning. They reckon the cost of disinfection by UV-C is around 10% of the cost of conventional disinfection. UVC lights designed to disinfect surfaces and the air are already widely used in Indian hospitals, hotels, and more. Some are already using UVC to completely replace chemical disinfection. Right now awareness is growing faster than ever, the technology is readily available, and the cost of UVC disinfection tech is reasonable.

Boston USA harnesses UV robots for covid disinfection
In Boston, USA, they’ve been using UV light to disinfect spaces for decades. The city already treats its drinking water with UV light as well as cleaning hospital rooms and surgeries with it. Now they’re harnessing ultraviolet light against the novel coronavirus in a test that has been running for the past two months.

The Greater Boston Food Bank is set to confirm the use of a UVC-emitting robot to disinfect surfaces and neutralise airborne viral loads in its warehouse every night. The customised robot was built by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in collaboration with AVA Robotics. As they said, “Research shows that ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, specifically shining UVC light at different surfaces, can neutralize and kill various microorganisms.”

How much virus is killed depends on the UVC dosage and how long the light shines for. The team at MIT reckon their UV robot can kill off 90% of the virus. And it could easily also be used to clean “grocery stores, schools, office buildings, hotels, these different types of places where you would want to reduce the risk of exposure between guests or occupants”.

Before long the team believes the robot will simply be able to move through the Boston Food Bank’s warehouse automatically at night, driven by an automated, pre-set patrol schedule.

A t the same time, in New York City there’s a pilot underway designed to disinfect subway carriages using light pulses from portable UVC lamps. And in Shanghai, similar tech is already being used to clean buses.

The UV-C writing is on the wall
If you’d like to steal an advantage over your competitors, why not give our UVC disinfecting robots a try? It might just be the perfect way to get your business back on track... and keep it there.

Covid antiviral drug success, lost life, window advice and more

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:45:02 GMT

“It’s been known since the late 1800s that a specific band of ultraviolet light can kill microorganisms by damaging their DNA or RNA. Artificially produced UVC has a long history of use in sterilizing medical equipment and surfaces in hospitals. The radiation is also used to help sanitize drinking water in municipal water treatment centers as some parasites are resistant to chemical disinfectants such as chlorine.”
Design News

As the pandemic continues to cause havoc around the globe, scientists are doing remarkable work in a gargantuan effort to save lives. As well as UVC disinfection coming into its own, this time confirmed by Design News above, new drugs are being released that help treat the disease, making it less deadly for vulnerable people.

Here’s some of this week’s most interesting covid news. In a post-truth world where far too much rubbish is talked about covid, New Scientist magazine provides the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Here’s some science for you.

New antiviral therapies dramatically cut risk of covid death
The drug Paxlovid apparently cuts the risk of being hospitalised or dying from covid by almost 90%, which is wonderful news for the vulnerable. A twice daily dose of Paxlovid for five days, given outside a hospital setting, protects people at risk of severe illness. The drug blends PF-07321332, which blocks a crucial enzyme the virus needs to reproduce, with ritonavir, an HIV treatment that slows the break-down of the PF-07321332 itself.

At the same time the UK has approved the anti-viral drug molnupiravir, given twice daily to non-hospitalised people who are at risk of severe illness but have not been hospitalised. This one halves the risk of needing hospital treatment for – or dying of – covid by mutating the virus so it can’t multiply inside human cells.

In Indonesia they’re using the Novovax vaccine, the first country on earth to get cracking with the jab, which has proved 90% effective against covid symptoms.

28 million years of human life lost to covid so far
It’s a horrible statistic. So far, across the world, over 28 million years of human life have been lost to covid. But because the study only looked at data from 37 countries, the real number is going to be dramatically higher. The study, by a team at the University of Oxford, also examined declines in people’s life expectancy in the 37 countries they studied, seeing the worst falls in Russia, the USA, and Bulgaria. So far male life expectancy in England and Wales has fallen by 1.2 years and female life expectancy by 0.8 years.

People in England told to ‘open the windows’
Every little helps in the battle against covid infection. It looks like simply opening the windows for ten minutes every hour will help reduce the risk of catching the virus indoors... or so says a new public information campaign running in England.

Europe is once again the centre of covid infections
Europe is the current epicentre for the pandemic. Scientists say it’s because of countries relaxing their prevention measures and uneven vaccine coverage. Every country in Europe, as well as the UK, is “either facing a real threat of covid-19 resurgence or already fighting it”.

Fight covid with UVC robots, compete better in your sector
Our UVC covid disinfection robots remain the best way to clean the air and every surface the light touches. It makes mincemeat of teams of human cleaners and saves you a fortune in disinfecting chemicals. It’s fast, easy to use, and makes a massive difference to helping you do business safely. Click here to find out more.

Latest covid news – The ups and the downs

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 09:45:02 GMT

The covid news over the past few days has been up and down as usual, as the world watches the UK’s big covid experiment unfold. We remain the only nation letting covid run wild. Cases are increasing, hospitalisations are on the up, and to be honest the future is looking less certain than ever. Some claim the nation is nothing more than a giant petri-dish right now.

While nobody knows how the current boom in UK cases will pan out, we do know one thing: our LED UVC robots kill covid and many more coronaviruses, and they make covid disinfection a lot more effective and cheaper than a team of human cleaners could ever hope to achieve. Here’s the news.

5 million global covid death toll – UK one of the 5 worst for covid deaths
The global covid death toll has hit 5 million, and the US, Brazil, India, Mexico and UK account for over half of all worldwide deaths.

Vaccinated twice? You can still catch covid from your household
If you’ve had both jabs you can still catch covid. The risk stands at one in four, 25%, compared to non-vaccinated people, who are at 38% risk of getting the delta variant from their household contacts.

Those who were jabbed twice enjoyed a faster decline in their ‘viral load’ over the course of the infection compared to un-vaccinated people, which is good news, but the study also revealed the viral load intake was higher in older people.

What does it mean? Keith Neal at the University of Nottingham, UK, said this suggests there’s a need ‘reconsider the current rule in England that people who are vaccinated do not need to isolate if someone in their household is infected’. Conversely, Sheila Bird at the University of Cambridge said the low numbers of people in the study made any conclusions drawn from it ‘foolhardy’.

What do you do? With the government mostly leaving it up to the public, with no plans to launch a Plan B so far, your actions are actually all about your own personal attitude to risk.

What is your personal attitude to covid risk?
Are you staying in until UK case numbers start to fall back down? Maybe you’re perfectly confident going out and about, like everything’s back to normal? Perhaps you have a foot in each camp and while you’d love to go out, you have no real idea how to keep yourself safe at the moment. You’re not alone. Things are pretty uncertain in the UK, especially in England.

What do you do if you run a business? You want to attract back as many customers as you can – and that means catering for people with every level of risk aversion and risk awareness. The only way to keep everyone safe is to keep everything properly disinfected... and the only practical way to achieve that is to use a UVC robot to disinfect spaces, surfaces and the air, and kill covid.

More covid news for 1st November 2021

UK ‘covid passes’ will be accepted throughout the EU, treated as the equivalent of the EU’s own digital covid passes
The UK has removed the final seven countries from its red list, but how many countries will be prepared to let UK residents in under the current experimental ‘let it run wild’ situation?
Wales is introducing stricter social distancing rules in a bid to ‘turn the tide’ of surging infections – and they won’t rule out more restrictions in future
A trial in Brazil shows the antidepressant fluvoxamine is effective as a covid treatment – sufferers are less likely to need a long stay in hospital after being given the drug, which has useful anti-inflammatory effects
The covid testing lab that was suspended in October is ongoing. Apparently a “full investigation remains ongoing” and there will be an update in due course
Moscow has gone into strict lockdown again thanks to ‘record’ surging cases and death rates The country has just seen a daily new case total of 40,096 along with 1159 deaths – that’s fewer daily cases than the UK has seen recently, yet England remains wide open
A ‘damning’ report confirms the NHS Test and Trace programme has not delivered its main objective and has not enabled people to return to a more normal way of life despite the ‘eye watering’ sums of money it cost. It isn’t the NHS at fault, it’s the government’s handling of the tech that caused the issues. “The national Test and Trace programme was allocated eye-watering sums of taxpayers’ money in the midst of a global health and economic crisis,” said Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee. “It set out bold ambitions but has failed to achieve them despite the vast sums thrown at it.
Experts are pressuring the government to get busy vaccinating pregnant women, many of whom are currently being turned away from clinics. At the same time, at least 13 pregnant women died with covid from July to September 2021
In the USA the Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine has been approved for children aged 5 to 11. Experts say it will ‘prevent significant long-term adverse outcomes in children’
A new report reveals how catching covid comes with more risk of rare neurological complications than a first vaccine dose does. Covid infection carries a much higher risk of developing neurological complications than vaccines, and that’s great news

Let’s talk covid disinfection robots
You want to get as many people as possible engaged with your business, visiting you and buying from you. If your business involves face-to-face contact, you need to reassure people they’ll be safe, and that means our covid disinfection robots. If you’d like to talk through the potential, get in touch.

UVC covid disinfection robot tech spreads around the world

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:30:02 GMT

It’s great to see the covid disinfection robot scene booming right now. Here are just a few of the latest stories about covid UVC disinfection technology from around the world.

Yahoo finance reports on UVD Robots
According to Yahoo Finance, the Danish firm UVD Robots, a fellow leader in autonomous UV disinfection technology, has got into bed with OCC Commercial Consulting to deliver ‘complete hospital-grade disinfection solutions’ for supermarkets. The result will be a much safer shopping experience for employees and customers.

Just like ours, UVD’s autonomous robots use germicidal UVC light to make viruses and bacteria on surfaces and in the air harmless, killing more than 99.99% of micro-organisms including covid itself. UVD robots has signed the global partnership agreement with OCC to combat covid and other pathogens often found across grocery, food service and retail premises

EU donates 200 UVC covid disinfection robots
As we reported previously, the EU is donating 200 UVC covid disinfection devices to hospitals across Europe. The new cleaning devices donated by the EU cost an eye-watering 80,000 Euros each, a lot more than ours, and one is currently being trialled at Turku University Hospital in Finland, the country’s first UV disinfection robot.

Despite the hefty price tag, by all accounts the robots soon pay for themselves, understandable when a team of cleaners on constant duty 24/7 costs an absolute fortune. As you can imagine our UVC robots, which cost a lot less, pay for themselves even faster!

As the hospital’s hygiene unit’s Administrative Manager says, “The patient rooms have a lot of surfaces that get touched a lot. Even the bed is quite challenging to clean. You can't get into all of the corners very easily, even with a cleaning cloth.” As another expert mentioned, UVC robots can also play an important role in fighting hospital-borne bacteria after the end of the covid crisis.

Ethiopian Airlines signs a covid disinfection robot deal
On 12th October Ethiopian Airlines Group and Aero HygenX outlined a joint plan to deploy a fleet wide autonomous UV-C light disinfecting robot called RAY, the first time an African nation has adopted the tech made by the Canadian technology company.

Germii Australia and Softbank Robotics Singapore sign a deal
In Australia the UVC robot tech made by GERMii UV-C for Whiz, the AI autonomous floor vacuum-cleaning robot from SoftBank Robotics, has been approved as safe, proven to prevent accidental over-exposure to UVC radiation. It means the company will be able to begin working towards deploying their robots across various important Singapore government and commercial customer sites. The tech is already available in Singapore and throughout the Asia Pacific.

As a Germii spokesman said, “We’re immensely pleased to finally be able to commence shipping GERMii air and floor systems to current Whiz robots in service around the region, and to customers about to deploy Whiz.”

Singapore polyclinic’s clever assistive healthcare robot
Visitors to Singapore’s Tampines Polyclinic are being greeted by a robot telling them to put their masks on, directing them around the building, and monitoring their temperatures.

It’s all down to the Healthcare Assistive Robot for Frontline Infection Control, AKA Hiro, created by a team at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The robot, currently on trial, also uses UV-C light to kill bacteria and viruses. As one of its inventors said, "The robot is meant to help cut down on the possibility of infection in the polyclinics and also reduce the burden on healthcare staff doing laborious tasks like cleaning hard-to-reach areas and temperature screening, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic."

Hiro is part of the Polytechnic’s collaboration with the healthcare giant SingHealth. They plan to roll the technology out to more SingHealth polyclinics next year. In the meantime, work to perfect the robot continues.

Join the UVC covid disinfection revolution!
More and more organisations around the world are discovering the remarkable natural power of UVC light at a specific wavelength for killing covid. If you’d like to future-proof your business, whether it’s a healthcare clinic of some kind, a theatre, a music venue, a school or anywhere else you want to prevent covid from spreading, let’s discuss your options. Our covid disinfection robots are surprisingly affordable as well as a highly effective way to keep your people and customers safe.

‘Wilfully negligent’ – Politics V science – UK covid priorities diverge

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 09:36:29 GMT

“The Westminster government said it would enact ‘Plan B’ to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed; as doctors working on the frontline, we can categorically say that time is now.

By the health secretary’s own admission we could soon see 100,000 cases a day and we now have the same number of weekly covid deaths as we had during March, when the country was in lockdown. It is therefore incredibly concerning that he is not willing to take immediate action to save lives and to protect the NHS.

It is wilfully negligent of the Westminster government not to be taking any further action to reduce the spread of infection, such as mandatory mask wearing, physical distancing and ventilation requirements in high-risk settings, particularly indoor crowded spaces. These are measures that are the norm in many other nations.” (The British Medical Association Council)

It’s a damning statement. So what do you do when the advice from experts says one thing but the government says another? It’s a tough call for companies in dire need of a level of certainty. Here in the UK things are, if anything, less certain than ever. And it’s worrying to see that, around the globe, some massive ‘class action’ covid legal cases are being brought against companies and governments.

Here’s the latest news about the growing gap between what the UK’s doctors and scientists are saying, and what the government is planning.

UK PM accused of being ‘wilfully negligent’
The Prime Minister has rejected calls to re-impose covid safety measures even though the new daily case number exceeded 50K last week. Johnson says he is “sticking with our plan” but at the same time the leader of the nation’s doctors’ union says he is being ‘wilfully negligent’.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the public must have their vaccines and booster shots and wear masks in crowded places in order to avoid the new case rate hitting 100,000 a day. But he refused to implement the so-called ‘plan B’ contingency measure, which includes insisting on face coverings in some settings, mandatory vaccine-only status certificates, and a return to working from home.

At the same time the government has launched a media campaign to encourage eligible people to come forward for their booster jabs five months after their second dose, instead of six months afterwards, prompting some experts say that early jabs are a waste of resources.

We have concerns around new descendants of very infectious variants, too. The UK government says it is keeping a “close eye” on a descendant of the delta variant being seen in more cases than ever before. The variant is called AY4.2 and science doesn’t know much about it yet. So far the government says there’s no evidence it spreads more easily than delta. Scientists say AY4.2 has two mutations in its spike protein, both of which have been spotted in other coronavirus ‘lineages’ since the start of the pandemic, but until now they appeared at ‘low frequency’.

Covid legal action ’exploding’ – Is it better to be safe than sorry?
“In this unparalleled environment, the risk to companies of global and cross-border class action and collective redress proceedings is greatly increased.” So says one UK law firm, and they’re not alone.

A fast-growing number of people across the world are already enacting fast-growing class action and legal redress procedures, especially around consumer legal claims. In fact lawyers and litigation funders are already kicking off covid-led litigation in the UK, Europe, Australia, the US, and Canada. The US has already seen hundreds of covid class actions. Increasing numbers are being filed in Canada. Over the next few months experts fully expect covid class action legal action to boom in Australia and the UK in particular, along with Germany, China, and elsewhere.

Protect yourself, your people, your customers, business partners, and visitors
Now, more than ever, you need to take covid mitigation into your own hands. Our UVC covid disinfection robots are affordable and highly effective, the tech is proven to work brilliantly, and it might just save you from a business-killing lawsuit.

Lab fails, booster jab fails, long covid fails and more

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 09:35:40 GMT

The latest covid news reveals a surge in UK cases. The most-frequently infected people are 5-17 year olds who haven’t been vaccinated. Plenty of those who have had their two jabs are catching covid anyway. At the same time one lab has released 43,000 false PCR test results, the UK’s booster jab plan has gone pear-shaped, and there are nowhere near enough Long Covid clinics to cope with the predicted number of Long Covid cases. Here’s the latest news, which once more reveals an urgent need for reliable covid disinfection tech like ours.

Lab fail leaves people vulnerable
An estimated 43,000 people might have been given false negative results from their PCR tests. NHS Test and Trace has stopped testing at the Immensa Health Clinic Wolverhampton lab after an investigation. Samples due at the lab are now being sent somewhere else instead. Luckily there’s no evidence of faults in the lateral flow or PCR tests themselves.The mistakes affect people whose tests were taken between 8th September and 12th October, mostly the south west of England. People who could be infectious without realising it have been contacted, and their close contacts are being asked to take another test.
There are also problems at the Newbury Show Ground testing site, which has also been the source of false negative results, this time affecting people who had a negative result there between 3rd and 12th October.

Booster vaccine rollout ‘a chaotic failure’
Charities say the government’s rollout of booster vaccines for those at extra risk is ‘a chaotic failure’. Fewer than half of eligible people have been contacted so far, and charities Blood Cancer UK and Kidney Care UK are angry. Gemma Peters, the Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK, says, “It is now clear that the rollout of the third doses for the immuno-compromised has been a failure that was poorly planned and badly implemented.”

Long covid clinic shortage warning for winter
You can still catch covid after having both jabs, and Long Covid is a risk everyone who gets the virus takes. In England alone we currently have around 706,000 people with long covid symptoms but just 89 specialist Long Covid clinics. Experts fear this winter will see another large peak, followed by a peak in cases of Long Covid. This could easily overwhelm existing clinics already groaning under the strain.

UK 5-17 year olds are being infected ‘exponentially’
Covid infections rose exponentially in 5-17 year olds through September as experts predicted, simply because the schools went back and comparatively few pupils were vaccinated. Overall the prevalence of the virus ‘remained stable’, with 1 in 120 of us infected between 9th and 27th September. Evidence also shows, for the vaccinated amongst us, the risk of infection increases again three months after vaccination. And this means the government really needs to get its 3rd booster jab act sorted out very quickly indeed.

Make your premises safe with a UVC covid disinfection robot

Our covid disinfection robots use clean, green UVC light at a certain highly effective wavelength to kill covid. The tech has been used in healthcare settings around the globe for decades to kill viruses and more, messing with viral DNA so it can’t reproduce. To know more, give us a call or email us. We’ve designed our robots to save businesses, and they also save lives. Let’s talk UVC covid disinfection!

Our step by step guide to killing covid – UVC tech at its best

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:13:48 GMT

In a week when even more companies and organisations are announcing they’ll be using UVC light to kill covid and keep people safe, we thought it’d be useful to provide a step by step guide to using our covid killer UVC LED Lamps. We’ll look at some killer facts about our brilliant technology, see who’s using UVC disinfection to fight the spread, and explore the way it works to keep people safe and businesses open.

UVC covid killing technology – The facts

UVC light has been used to disinfect healthcare settings for decades
It disinfects air, water,and non-porous surfaces
Our machines use the specific wavelength of UVC light that kills covid best of all
Our tech also kills Ebola, flu, the common cold, SARS, MERS and hospital acquired infections
There’s no reason why it won’t kill any new strains of virus
The powerful light wrecks the virus’ DNA so it can’t reproduce, making it harmless
It takes a surprisingly short time to clean a room
The light disinfects every surface it touches
There’s no way a human team of cleaners could do the same job without constantly cleaning, and using a lot of nasty chemical cleaning products
Our robots come with all the right safety features and are very easy to use
The technology has been proven time and time again in many experiments around the globe
LED lights are energy-efficient and sustainable with no harmful residues and are completely contaminant free.

Who’s using UVC light to kill covid?
Recent adopters of cutting-edge UVC disinfection tech include a fast-growing number of healthcare facilities across the USA: mobile response services, clinics, hospitals and surgeries. The EU is also keen, having just donated 200 UVC LED machines to hospitals across the bloc.

A new study by the University of Colorado says UV light disinfection is set to be a ‘game changer’ in preventing the spread of the virus, with reports calling it ‘the key’. Thailand is adopting UVC disinfection tech across its hospitals and infirmaries. The tech is being used in South Africa to keep essential soup kitchens open. And the respected website physics.org reports that the specific UVC wavelength used in our machines . ‘could offer a low-cost, safe way to curb covid’

About our UVC covid killer mobile units

Disinfects any room, of any size, any time, simply, quickly and affordably
Very effective, proven by science
Lab tested by SGS - verified kill rates as high as 99.9%
Fully automated with on-board scheduling with a timer and calculator, to help you achieve the optimum cleaning time and intensity every time
Superb on-board safety
Compatible with building management systems

A step by step guide to using our covid killer mobile units

Wheel the into the room
Plug into the main electrical supply
Set the exposure time - it’s simple thanks to our easy-to-use calculator
Press the button and leave
The unit will give you an audible sound (30 Seconds) once finished will switch on
Should anybody enter during the cleaning cycle the unit will automatically switch off and hold until they leave the room then will continue after again after 30 seconds.

Explore the potential with our experts
We’ve already provided our covid killer range to clinics, schools, sports facilities and more. As our video says, when you use our UVC range in your premises, “When people are coming and going, it is completely virus free.”

Covid disinfection news digest – Where we’re at right now

Mon, 18 Oct 2021 11:58:56 GMT

It’s fascinating to see frequent new covid-led discoveries being reported. It’s great to know humanity is gradually pinning down the fine details behind the virus that has changed the world forever. At the same time it’s disturbing that there’s still such a lot we don’t know. It makes a lot of sense to take every possible precaution to avoid catching covid. Our covid disinfection robots kill covid. If you’d like to keep your people and customers safe, let’s talk about our covid-killer technology.

Covid vaccine discovery – good news
It’s great news. The Pfizer vaccine is up to 94% effective over 6 months in people who’ve also had the virus. Which means people who’ve had the virus before having their two jabs enjoy better levels of immunity against the virus than people who have never caught it in the first place.

Thanks to the Zoe Covid Symptom Study App, scientists now know that people who had two Pfizer/BioNTech jabs after a covid infection are at 94% less risk of getting the virus again within 6 months of dose two. If you haven’t had covid your rate is 80%. The AstraZeneca jab reveals much the same effect, giving 90%protection for recovered people compared to 71% in those who never caught the virus.
The numbers also show having the virus but not having jabs gives you just 65% protection against getting infected for as long as 450 days after catching the virus. The overall conclusion? “Large numbers of people will have effective and long lasting protection from covid-19,” according to Tim Spector at King’s College London. The results make an exceptionally strong case for vaccination whether you’ve had the virus or not.

People still suffer from long covid a year after infection
You might have a mild dose of covid, but the effects can stay with you for at least a year. And that alone is a very good reason for avoiding catching it in the first place, and another reason why our covid killer robots are such a good idea. After all, who wants to feel poorly for months on end?

It looks like over 400,000 Brits are still suffering long covid symptoms ‘a year or more’ after being infected, according to the ONS. The most common left-over symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of your sense of taste and smell, and problems concentrating. At the same time about 1.1 million of us have self-reported covid symptoms lasting more than four weeks.

What is covid toe ?
One of the many bizarre effects of covid is ‘covid toe’. What is covid toe? Now we know. It looks like the condition could be an immune system side effect, something that happens when your system fights the virus. Red swellings, which are a lot like chilblains, appear on the hands and feet and can last for months, leaving them swollen and oddly-coloured. It is much rarer after vaccination, a lot more common in people who haven’t been vaccinated.

Flu and covid vaccines are safe given at the same time
Given the news that catching flu and covid at the same time can be deadly, it’s good to know that it’s safe to have both jabs at the same time, in different arms. The side effects seen in a clinical trial were mostly ‘mild to moderate’, with no immune system problems to either vaccine when given at the same time. The results also confirms the UK’s current coronavirus booster guidance in the UK, which says both jabs can be given together.

Our covid killer robots also kill flu
Flu is a virus. The common cold is a virus. So are Ebola, SARS, and MERS. Did you know our covid killer robots not only kill covid, they also kill the flu virus, Ebola, SARS, MERS, all four common cold viruses, plus a collection of extremely nasty hospital acquired infections? Did you know machines like ours have been used for decades in healthcare settings? Protect your business, your employees and your customers with one of our covid killing robot machines. They’re reliable, fast, safe and highly effective.

The truth about covid UK – The latest numbers and why it matters

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 19:00:03 GMT

Some days it’s up, other days it’s down. Some TV news providers have stopped giving the daily numbers altogether, which means it isn’t always easy to get an accurate picture unless you dig deep. So what’s the real truth about covid cases in the UK for October 2021? And are there any reliable predictions for the rest of 2022?

UK government stats for covid cases and deaths on 3rd October

30,439 new daily cases
242,005 new cases in the last 7 days – up 1.1% on the previous 7 days
43 daily deaths
785 deaths in the last 7 days – down just under 19% compared to the previous 7 days

This is what the government says about the way they report the data:

"The way cases are reported in England changed on 21 May 2021. Reported cases are sometimes removed if subsequent tests are negative. This happens when cases identified through a positive rapid lateral flow test are followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests within 3 days that are all negative. These cases are removed daily from 21 May 2021. Because of this, the number of newly-reported cases may not be the same as the difference between the total number of reported cases from one day to the next. The number of newly-reported cases in England and the UK is adjusted to take this into account, but the numbers for regions and local authorities are not adjusted. This means that for regions and local authorities, this figure does not show the actual number of new cases reported on that date."

Office of National Statistics data
The ONS’ latest headline news is that infection rate rises are being seen in England and Wales, with a drop in Scotland. According to them the estimated infected percentages of people who are not in hospitals, care homes or other institutions who had covid in the last week of September (ending 25th) were:

England - 1.21% (1 in 85 people), compared to 1.14% (1 in 90) the previous week
Wales - 1.76% (1 in 55 people), compared to 1.67% (1 in 60 people) the previous week
Northern Ireland - 1.53% (1 in 65 people), compared to 1.65% (1 in 60 people) the week before
Scotland - 1.85% (1 in 55 people), compared to 2.28% (1 in 45 people) the week before
The positivity rate in England has gone up in groups of people aged 2, in school year 6, and school years 7 to 11
There are ‘early signs’ of an increase in infections for people aged 70 and more
The positivity rate dropped for people in school year 12 to those aged 24
For people aged 35 – 69 years case numbers levelled off
Cases have increased in the West Country, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber
Cases fell in the North East and London
The rest of the UK is currently ‘uncertain’ as far as the trend goes

Covid data and predictions from Worldometer
Worldometer says the UK has had 7,900,680 officially noted cases so far and 136,953 covid deaths. Their graph of daily new cases in the UK reveals a steady increase from May 24th 2001 with a couple of particularly noticeable peaks in June/July, another in early September, and a series of smaller peaks developing since then.

UK live covid map
You can check your area using this UK-wide covid map. And this fascinating site makes some interesting data-led predictions, projecting a regular upward trend through the rest of 2021 and into 2022.

UK covid predictions for October 2021
The mainstream media isn’t making it easy to predict what’s going to happen next. Right wing publications naturally tend to be more positive around the future, since we have a Conservative government in charge, and left wing media tend to be more negative. This means neither is particularly helpful.

Baffled by the stats? Get disinfected and stay on the safe side!
Whatever the source of the stats, whatever your personal feelings about how things are going, it makes sense to be safe rather than sorry. Isn’t it about time you invested in a reliable covid disinfection robot whose impact is proven beyond doubt, already used in healthcare settings around the world for many decades? Let’s talk.

Covid disinfection and the West End theatre scene

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 13:03:45 GMT

When covid first hit and we went into lockdown, the capital’s world-class theatre district fell apart. West End shows that had been on stage continually for years, even decades, closed their doors to audiences. Actors, musicians, orchestras, directors, choreographers and producers were sent home, with no idea if or when things would begin to re-open.

It has been a long, hard haul since then for the creative community, and the West End has suffered more than most. Now London’s theatreland is finally beginning to come back to life. So what’s the situation in the West End, what’s expected of you around proving your covid status, and is there anything more theatres can do to keep their audiences and their talent safe from the virus?

West End theatre covid entry details
Theatres are allowed to open at full capacity now, so what rules do they have in place? So far every theatre in London is recommending you wear a face covering unless you’re eating, drinking or officially exempt. Some theatres are asking audiences to bring proof they’re not infected, others are still busy making a final decision based on what happens next around the way the virus is spreading.

Right now there are three ways to prove you’re a safe bet, and you can do it all via your covid pass, the card you were given when you had your vaccinations. You can show your covid status either as a QR code or via the NHS app.

Double Vaccination – this method of proof reveals you had your second jab at least 14 days ago, which means you’re fully vaccinated and should have a decent level of immunity – assuming you’re not one of the unlucky ones for whom immunity doesn’t happen
A negative lateral flow test result taken within 48 hours of the performance you’ve booked. Many theatres will accept a text of confirmation from the NHS, but you can also do it via the NHS app
Natural immunity means you’ve had and recovered from covid. For this one you’ll need a positive PCR test taken within the past 180 days which shows you isolated for 14 days after getting either the test result or symptoms

Check the covid rules at the theatre first
It’s wise to check with the venue first so you know exactly what you need to bring with you, and fully understand how the covid protocols will work before you turn up. You’ll find the details for each theatre on their official website, and they seem to vary. How come? Because some theatres, like the Harold Pinter, are small and intimate, others are absolutely huge, like the London Palladium, and every venue has its own unique layout with its own set of covid challenges.

Is there anything else West End theatres could be doing for audiences?
Can theatreland do any more to protect people? We think so. We’re the people behind one of the best covid disinfection robots around. It harnesses clean, low cost UVC light at a very specific wavelength to kill the virus wherever the light touches. It makes a lot more sense than hiring a permanent gang of human cleaners armed with expensive and often nasty chemicals, and it takes a surprisingly short time to disinfect a large space like an auditorium.

Do you manage a theatre or venue?
If you’d like to investigate the use of clean, affordable, highly effective LED UVC covid disinfection, which has been used with great success in healthcare settings for decades, let’s have an exciting discussion. With our help you’ll protect your audiences better, and you might even enjoy a positive outcome for your bottom line.

Life expectancy drops, lives saved by jabs, covid news snippets

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:00:51 GMT

There’s plenty of fresh covid news around this week. Here’s just some of it, revealing how the pandemic just keeps on giving.

To protect your business, customers and visitors from the virus, why not investigate our brilliant portable covid-killing robots? They use clean, pure UV light at exactly the right wavelength to kill covid, leaving indoor spaces clean and safe.

Boys in the UK face a covid led drop in life expectancy
Apparently deaths from covid have led to a drop in life expectancy for boys born in the UK, and it’s the first time in four decades that male life expectancy in the country has fallen.

New numbers from the Office for National Statistics reveal how boys born between 2018 and 2020 will live for 79 years, compared with 79.2 years for boys born between 2015 - 2017. For women, there’s no change at 82.9 years. It’s all because the mortality rates were ‘unusually high’ in 2020, especially for men.

It doesn’t mean your baby will actually have a shorter life. As the ONS says, “To get a better estimate of this we need to consider how mortality and therefore life expectancy will improve into the future. It will be several years before we understand the impact, if any, of coronavirus on this.”

How many lives have covid vaccines saved?
Covid vaccines have prevented 123,100 deaths in England so far. Public Health England and the University of Cambridge also say about 23.9 million infections didn’t happen thanks to the vaccine rollout, and we’ve seen 230,800 fewer hospital admissions for people aged 45 and over than we otherwise would have. Right now over 89% of everyone in England aged 16 or more has had at least one dose and almost 82% of over 16s are fully vaccinated.

Covid news snippets in bullets

The US has approved booster vaccines for those aged 65+ and people with underlying health conditions...
...but they refused to approve booster jabs for people in high risk jobs like healthcare workers until the CDC ‘decided to include this category in the agency’s recommendation’
It’s baffling – those travelling to England who have been fully vaccinated with Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines in the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea or an EU country don’t have to quarantine, but people who had the exact same jabs in other countries must quarantine for 10 days after they arrive in England
A new discovery - Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine is more effective after two doses
Around 1.2% of school aged children in England were absent with confirmed or suspected covid on 16th September, compared to 1% in the summer
At 22nd September 2021 the UK came fourth in the world’s list of places with the most number of covid cases, below the USA, India and Brazil. The latest graph shows cases in the UK shooting up in a “straight, diagonal line upwards (that) indicates an outbreak that is growing exponentially”
Scotland’s health system is struggling to cope with covid, with emergency departments in need of thousands more beds for acute care
The UK’s booster jab programme is underway
While there are more covid cases in the under 18s age group, fewer children are off school. As the General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers said to the Guardian newspaper, “These national figures mask some significant issues arising at a local level, and we already know of schools that are struggling to keep classes open due to outbreaks occurring.”
Is the delta variant more dangerous for children? There are rumours but apparently the science doesn’t stack up. There’s no evidence so far that delta is any worse in children, but some children are getting very ill with covid all the same
It looks like long covid affects 3 - 11.7% of people infected by the coronavirus, according to the Office For National Statistics
In the USA the number of recorded covid deaths has exceeded the number of people who died from the 1918 flu virus. More than 1900 people in the USA are dying of covid every day, and experts predict at least another 100,000 deaths to come
More than 4.6 million people worldwide have died of covid.

Better safe than sorry – You need a covid killing robot
Do you run a business? How can you stay safe from legal action around covid infections, keep your employees safer, protect visitors to your premises and keep your customers happy? There remains only one reliable way to keep infection at bay that doesn’t involve large teams of human cleaners constantly on the job. Hospitals have been using UV light to disinfect for decades. Now you can buy a robot that does exactly that - and it’s wonderfully simple to use. Let’s talk covid disinfection!

England faces a winter boom in covid cases despite vaccination

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:00:48 GMT

Some counties in England are already reporting a back-to-school hike in new covid cases amongst young people, revealing we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet. So what’s going on, and what are the scientists saying about the next couple of months?

‘Bleak’ winter predictions for covid cases in England
England is diving back into covid. A government scientific advisory committee says the number of people admitted to hospital with covid in England could shoot up to 2000 - 7000 a day before the festive season. At the moment the number of people hospitalised in England with the virus is around 1000 a day compared to just over 4000 a day in January, at the height of the early 2021 wave.

So how come, when so many of us have been vaccinated, are the covid predictions for winter 2021/22 so gloomy? And how come, if cases have recently been going down, are the scientists so worried?

Vaccines never provide 100% immunity
You might live in a place where almost everyone’s been jabbed. But no vaccine on earth, whatever the disease, provides complete protection. People who aren’t being immunised, including children, still present a risk, as do people whose vaccination hasn’t made them immune, which isn’t uncommon. That’s why scientists have long been predicting an ‘exit wave’ in parallel to the relaxation of England’s covid restrictions, and that’s what we’re seeing signs of right now.

The picture was originally complicated by the July spike we saw thanks to thousands of people meeting indoors to watch the football. Take away those cases and the picture is a lot clearer – the summer saw a steady rise in cases, now we’re reaching a peak or plateau, and that’s what scientists call a ‘wave’.

So far it’s a lower wave – And it’s all thanks to the public
So far the current wave is not as severe as the first three. The reason? Probably because people didn’t respond to the end of lockdown by going back to normal. They wisely took the government’s move out of lockdown with a large pinch of salt, not returning to their old levels of social mixing. As the SPI-M-O committee, which advises the UK government, said, “The population has not reduced their cautious behaviours as dramatically as was considered possible.”

On the bright side plenty of us have built up a really good level immunity from infection, vaccination and booster jabs. On the less bright side immunity levels drop over time, and there’s an increasing risk of scary new variants.

Apparently before covid people would have contact with an average of 11 people a day, now we’re having contact with an average of 3 people a day, a dramatic difference. Add this to the fact that many people still only feel comfortable meet others outdoors and you can see why the latest wave has been suppressed.

While 75% of us are still wearing face masks, the percentage is dropping as time passes. It’s not going to be possible to meet outdoors for much longer as winter approaches. Schools are a covid time bomb waiting to go off. And people are increasingly going back to work in offices as well as using public transport. With most of the country’s public spaces and many offices very badly ventilated, no wonder things are looking so dodgy.

The most likely scenario? Scientific modeling reveals an R number of 1.1 and 2000 hospitalisations a day is the most likely outcome. But as once scientist said, it’s probably wise to “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

How to protect employees and customers from covid
18 months into the pandemic, it’s clear you still need to take steps to protect your employees, business visitors and customers from covid. Our UVC covid disinfection machines do exactly that reliably, affordably and quickly, which means you enjoy a competitive advantage as well as protecting your company against the threat of legal action. Would you like to see one of our machines at work? Watch some cool videos here.

Can you be sued for covid? Yes – and the law is catching up!

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:00:43 GMT

According to AIG, as well as numerous other legal experts, 2021 is due to deliver a surge in covid litigation. AIG reports on the findings of the global risk management and insurance intermediary Gallagher, which quizzed claims management companies about their experiences.

The results reveal how thousands of UK organisations will face uncomfortable allegations about the way they’ve handled the virus. In fact a worrying 70% of claims management companies have already been sent claims relating to covid. 76% of those that hadn’t yet received any claims said they were fully expecting an increase. The research also predicts there’ll be a boom in litigation claims of around 40% through 2021 compared to previous years, with the increase wholly driven by ‘covid related incidents’.

The legal action will not just be brought for ‘safety violations and negligence’ but also be brought to court by employees who feel they were either over-worked, discriminated against, or dismissed unfairly. And there’s more trouble due thanks to shareholders and other interested parties who think businesses have made poor business decisions around covid.

UK businesses face a variety of covid claims, including workplace and premises safety violations and negligence, particularly around the shortage of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic. So far the claim management companies involved in the study have received claims around employees and customers catching covid on the premises, medical negligence, bad working conditions, and treatments for other medical problems that were delayed because of covid.

The sectors hardest hit appear to be the healthcare sector, public sector and hospitality industry, retailers, manufacturers, and even charities. The average claim value at the date the report was published was around £5,500 for employees and £7,500 for customers, to cover things like compensation for illness and related losses. But a successful negligence claim could see a business paying out a great deal more, and defending these cases in court will be expensive. It always is.

52% of the business leaders asked say they’re seriously concerned they’ll be sued in future by someone who says they caught covid on their premises. Google search data supports their concerns, with record highs in searches for things like ‘covid lawyer’ and ‘sue for covid’.

Keep your people and premises safe – Avoid covid legal action
Obviously it’s best for people not to catch the virus in the first place. Luckily you can help keep your staff and visitors safe in an easy, affordable and highly effective way using our covid UVC disinfection robots. They work quickly to kill the virus in every place the light touches, including the air, and it’s so much more affordable and efficient than having to employ teams of human cleaners on a constant basis. Why not give us a call to talk things through?

UVC covid disinfection, long covid, mandatory vaccinations and more

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:00:40 GMT

In the UK, during the week ending 19th September, 207,368 more people tested positive for covid, we had 1003 deaths, and 6627 more people were admitted to hospital with the virus. In sharp contrast New Zealand has suffered a total of 27 deaths since the pandemic began, out of a total of 4082 cases. In Australia they’ve had 85,629 cases in total and 1162 deaths. These numbers highlight how the UK is treating covid very differently from other countries. And that means, as individuals and businesses, we’re at greater risk than most.

The need for effective, affordable, convenient covid disinfection strategies is more important than ever in the UK. Luckily that’s exactly what we do. Our covid UVC disinfection tech is proven beyond doubt, used in healthcare settings for decades. If you want to keep your people, visitors, and customers safe, it costs nothing to talk. We’ll look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, here’s the latest covid news.

New long covid stats - UVC covid disinfection matters even more
A new analysis by the Office for National Statistics reveals how long covid affects between 3% and 11.7% of people who have had covid symptoms.

The original ONS study showed 13.7% experience symptoms for 12 weeks or more. This time the ONS used a different approach, looking at those who tested positive for covid whether or not they had symptoms
17.7% of people who had symptomatic covid self-reported long covid symptoms 12 weeks later
6.7% of symptomatic people who tracked specific official symptoms rather than self-reported symptoms had at least one long covid symptom for 12 weeks or more in a row
The new method suggests long covid could be less prevalent than anyone thought. But it also reveals long covid is more common in people who get symptoms during their initial covid infection. When the ONS took asymptomatic cases out of the equation, long covid was more common

It also looks like long covid mostly affects adult women aged 50 to 69, and in those with existing health conditions. And if your viral load was high in the first place, you’re also more likely to get long covid. Obviously the best scenario is not to catch the virus in the first place. Our covid UVC disinfection robots help you keep yourself, your customers, staff, and visitors safe.

France suspends 3000 vaccine-hesitant healthcare workers
Imagine you’re ill or vulnerable. Would you like to be cared for by people who haven’t been vaccinated? About 3000 healthcare workers in France who haven’t been vaccinated have been suspended from their jobs after the country’s new rules making vaccination mandatory for 2.7 million frontline staff came in. At the same time Italy is going to make vaccination mandatory for ‘most’ public and private workers. They’ll need a ‘green pass’ that proves they’ve either been fully vaccinated, have recovered from the virus recently, or have recently tested negative.

Big October increases in covid hospitalisation predicted for England
Are you ready for the covid boom being predicted by the SAGE committee? They say anything from 2000-7000 people per day could be hospitalised during October unless the government re-introduces restrictions to handle infection rates. Right now we’re seeing about 1000 people a day admitted.

As SAGE says, “it is highly likely that a significant decrease in home working in the next few months would result in a rapid increase in hospital admissions. If enacted early enough, a relatively light set of measures could be sufficient to curb sustained growth.”

What measures? SAGE recommends more widespread testing, a return to home-working, wearing masks, and self-isolation for fully vaccinated people who have been in contact with a positive case. And they say these measures must be put in place in good time rather than waiting for a crisis to develop.

Covid protection for your business
There’s a great way to keep interior spaces clean and safe from covid. Wheel one of our UVC robots into the room. Switch it on. Leave the room. Return in just a few minutes and the space is disinfected, the covid virus rendered harmless thanks to the power of UVC light provided by clean, energy-efficient LEDs. It’s a brilliant low-cost way to keep everyone at your place safe from infection. Give us a call to talk things through.

The latest news about UVC covid disinfection devices

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 18:00:05 GMT

The latest laboratory tests reveal how the Delta variant escapes the body’s immune responses a lot more easily than Alpha. At the same time scientists and educators have slammed the UK education secretary Gavin Williamson for allowing the mass infection of children, calling his actions ‘reckless’ and recommending nine ways to protect us all from a fourth wave, including vaccinating all 12-to-15-year-olds.

Experts say at infection is 26 times higher than at the same time last year. The UK is seeing 40-50 under 18 year olds hospitalised every day, and “There has been no plan for robust mitigation measures in schools to reduce the risk for children from infection and the consequences thereof.”

In times like this, it’s more important than ever to be able to rely on a means of disinfecting your business, keeping your employees, suppliers, visitors and customers as safe as you can. And it looks a lot like UVC is still the front-runner in the fight against covid and other pathogens.

China develops an anti-covid UVC sterilisation device
A new UVC sterilisation device developed by China has achieved a 99.99% inactivation rate against covid. The HGC-UVC sterilization device has passed all the relevant tests and is one of the first UVC sterilization products approved in the country. The machines come with an effective band of light that falls between 260 nm and 280 nm, which was found to kill 99.99% of covid within just ten minutes. The new device is better at sterilising than traditional mercury lamps, uses less energy and has a much longer service life. It also kills pathogenic bacteria like staphylococcus aureus, candida albicans, and coliform, as well as other coronaviruses.

Qatar Airways harnesses UVC tech in its aircraft
Qatar Airways is the world’s first global carrier to fit the latest Honeywell Ultraviolet Cabin System on board its planes. The new machines are more flexible, reliable and mobile than the originals, featuring extended UV wings to disinfect better and reduce disinfection time. The devices have been carefully tested on board and the airline intends to fit the tech to all its aircraft turnarounds at Hamad International Airport. At the same time Collins Aerospace has just unveiled Lilac-UV, a new sanitizing light solution for aircraft interiors.

Japanese study confirms effectiveness of pulsed xenon UV
In another piece of research confirming the power of UVC light, researchers at Hiroshima University Hospital in Japan have published a study confirming the effectiveness of LightStrike pulsed xenon ultraviolet light disinfection technology on surfaces contaminated with the ancomycin-resistant superbug Enterococci. The deadly pathogen can live on hospital surfaces for weeks and isn’t easy to remove using manual cleaning methods.

University of Michigan explores high efficiency UV to sterilise covid
A team at the University of Michigan has been exploring using high efficiency ultraviolet light emitting diodes to sterilise pathogens, including covid. They’re busy figuring out how to improve the quantum efficiency and wall-plug efficiency of deep UV LED. (Coll in case this doesn’t make sense, here’s a link to the article. Am I saying the right thing? https://phys.org/news/2021-08-high-efficiency-ultraviolet-emitting-diodes-sterilize.html)

EMT in Kuala Lumpur releases a flat irradiation air disinfector
The EMT Group Sdn Bhd is proud to announce they’re now the sole distributor of a UVC machine from Doneax Science and Technology Co Ltd. The UV Upper Flat Irradiation Air Disinfector blends traditional air disinfection with a UV lamp to disinfect against the virus. It is already widely used in China’s hospitals, maternity centres, clinics, schools, restaurants, and public transport. The company aims to sell 5000 machines in Malaysia by end of 2021.

Las Vegas schools adopt UVC covid disinfection technology
Over in the USA the Clark County School District is rolling out newly-bought machines that use ultraviolet light to zap covid and other pathogens.

Germicidal UVC in US healthcare facilities
Healthcare facilities in the US are adopting germicidal LED UVC light technology to draw air in, irradiate it with UV light, then release clean air. The tech is already significantly improving indoor safety by providing continuous airborne disinfection of viruses, bacteria and more.

UV fixtures have been used for many years to clean surfaces, but until recently the tech hasn’t been safe for use in occupied spaces. The new tech ‘safely and constantly’ disinfects air in occupied rooms. UVC is proven to disinfect air, water and nonporous surfaces, used for decades to stop diseases like tuberculosis, influenza and Legionnaires’ disease spreading.

USA CDC gives UVC the only green light
The USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says UVC is the ‘only recognized technology for effective germicidal treatment for airborne pathogens’.

Explore highly effective covid killing UVC tech for yourself
If you’d like to explore the potential of our brilliant, powerful, easy-to-use UVC disinfection robots, give us a call.

Covid risk aversion, confusing covid stats, UK falls behind on jabs

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 14:39:38 GMT

This week we’ll find out more about how the government aims to handle covid through the winter. How will you, as a business owner, go about keeping your employees happy when some people’s level of risk aversion is very different from others? What are the latest covid stats and why are they so confusing? Here’s the latest news about covid, and how to disinfect your premises against it.

Covid risk aversion – How to keep all your employees happy
New numbers from the Office of National Statistics reveal over 600 people died in England from covid during the first six months of the year, despite being fully vaccinated.

Picture this. Employee A isn’t very bothered about catching covid. They’re happy to come into work. They feel perfectly safe being indoors with their colleagues. Employee B feels very unsafe indeed, trapped indoors with their fellow workers in a space that’s hard to ventilate properly. How do you keep both types of people happy?

The trick is to maximise your anti-covid measures, and that means fast, impactful disinfection. The last thing you want is constant interruptions thanks to hours spent cleaning. UVC disinfection has been used in healthcare settings for decades, proven to kill off viruses like covid by wrecking their DNA and RNA, and it takes very little time to make a space safe. Wheel a UVC covid disinfection robot into the room, switch it on, come back a short time later and it’s done. We can’t think of a faster, more effective way to boost everyone’s confidence in an indoor setting.

Confusing covid stats
On one hand we have headlines in the Express newspaper about covid fatalities soaring by 25% and fears of an October lockdown, as revealed by new NHS data. At the same time headlines in The Sun newspaper insist that UK Covid cases and deaths have decreased by almost a fifth in a week. The most up to date government figures show 8,098 people are hospitalised with coronavirus in the UK, the highest number since 10th March 2021, and more than 100 of them are on ventilators.

As we write, 56 fatalities have been reported in the last day. This brings the total deaths in the UK to 134,200. Or does it? The overall death toll is hard to grasp since covid deaths are counted in three different ways.

The government counts people who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, currently totalling over 134,200
The Office of National Statistics says the UK death toll totals more than 156,888 – this involves all deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate even when the person hadn’t had a covid test
Others count deaths over and above the usual average number since the pandemic kicked off, and that currently stands at 123,188

Whatever the true number, it’s good to have an accurate picture of what’s going on out there so you can protect your employees, your customers, and your bottom line.

UK falls behind on vaccination rates
While the UK was leading Europe on vaccination until recently, now we’re falling behind. Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Ireland and more are reporting higher vaccination levels than us, mostly because they’ve already extended jabs to 12 to 15-year-olds. People in these countries also had their jabs more recently, which matters because the effectiveness of vaccines reduces over time. This means people in these other countries have better immunity levels than we do here in the UK. You can see why there are calls from increasing numbers of scientists to boost immunity in the UK’s population with a third jab. It’s also clear from Israel’s experiences that booster shots for the wider population are ‘very effective’ at driving transmission and infection levels down.

The Southern USA’s fourth covid wave causes havoc
The USA’s fourth covid wave is causing chaos in south Missouri and several other conservative southern states where vaccination levels among the under-65s is around 40% less than in north east USA. The gap is even wider in the 12-17 age band.

Right now around 100,000 Americans are hospitalised and they’re seeing 1500 deaths every day. The spike is spreading quickly to the north to affect Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, as well as roaring west into Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. South Dakota has a spike of its own, which has been traced back to a motorbike rally.

Comparing the USA’s experiences with the UK, which is now seeing a surge in cases of more than 30,000 a day, the future is looking grim. The USA has much lower vaccination levels. UK cases of Delta are soaring despite our higher vaccination levels. The huge number of unvaccinated Americans means the USA could be in big trouble before long.

Let’s talk UVC covid disinfection
As we sail into yet more uncertainty this winter, certainty becomes more precious than ever. Our UVC robots kill covid as well as a host more viruses, leaving spaces clean and safe. If that sounds good, please get in touch.

The Mu variant and more – Here’s the latest coronavirus news

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 19:00:03 GMT

The Mu variant is worrying scientists in South America. The UK and Australia are set to collaborate on vaccines to make sure both countries have what they need, when they need it. We still don’t know whether the UK will be vaccinating 12-15 year olds, even though numerous countries around the world are doing it. And a third jab might be on the cards for a few of us... or most of us. We’re waiting for a decision. Here’s the news.

The MU variant is hovering in the background
Have you heard about the MU variant? Also called B.1.621, it’s a new form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus first seen in Colombia, South America, in January this year. Since being discovered it has also popped up in other South American countries as well as Europe.

The World Health Organization declared Mu a ‘variant of interest’ in August 2021, which means it has mutations that might result in ‘potential properties of immune escape’. And that means the current crop of vaccines may be less effective against it. At the moment nobody knows, and studies are being carried out to discover the real threat behind Mu.

So far we’ve seen just a few larger outbreaks in South America and Europe. It’s good to know that, on the whole, the variant is currently in decline, affecting less than 0.1% of sequenced cases. On the other hand the numbers in Colombia, at 39%, and Ecuador at 13% are worrying, and are ‘consistently increasing’. Let’s hope MU doesn’t make its way to the UK.

UK and Australia collaborate to share vaccines
Britain has set up a covid jab trade deal with Australia. We’re due to send 4 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine Down Under. The exchange deal will see Australia sending the same volume to the UK before the end of 2021. The deal is designed to help the UK align vaccine supplies better with real-world demand, including covering potential booster programmes as well as rollout extensions to younger teens. The move should also help Australia come out of lockdown faster.

As we write over 50% of Australians, including those in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, are being asked to stay at home. Just 36% of those aged over 16 are fully vaccinated. New South Wales has recently recorded 1431 new cases and 12 deaths, the state’s highest daily death number so far. Experts say NSW’s infection levels should reach a peak within two weeks before starting to decline.

The UK’s vaccination levels
Around 25% of young adults in the UK have still not had their first jab. For those aged 18 to 29, just over 23% remain unvaccinated in Wales, 25.6% in Scotland, 27.7% in England and 29.2% in Northern Ireland.

Who is vaccinating 12-15 year olds?
The UK is one of the few countries in Europe not offering the vaccine to all children aged 12-15. At least 29 European nations are vaccinating children aged 12 and over or are planning to start soon. So are Singapore, Japan, UAE, Israel, the US, China, Canada, and the Philippines. In the USA almost 8 million kids aged 12 - 15 have had at least one jab, and Australia will offer jabs to all children aged 12-15 from 13th September 2021.

Weakened immune system? You will be offered a third jab
Around half a million people in the UK aged 12 or more who have badly-weakened immune systems will be offered a third jab. At the same time the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is still deciding whether to offer the rest of us a booster. The decision about this, and about jabs being offered to all 12-15 year olds, will be made ‘over the next few weeks’.

2 jabs almost halves the risk of long covid in adults
Two jabs almost halves the chance of your getting long covid, which is good news when the latest long covid symptom – kidney problems – is so nasty. A team at King’s College London analysed data from over 2 million people and the results revealed those of us who are double-jabbed are 73% less at risk of ending up in hospital and 31% less likely to develop ‘severe’ symptoms.

The end is not in sight!
New variants, vaccination targets missing the mark, different vaccination protocols in different countries... none of this bodes well for businesses, with ongoing uncertainty the name of the game. Now’s the time to invest in great value, proven UVC covid disinfection tech designed to help you steam ahead of your competitors.

The covid disinfection news – UVC disinfection takes off

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 15:04:17 GMT

It’s great to see the tech we use in our covid disinfection robots taking off around the world, with several independent reports highlighting a bright future for the sector. Here’s the covid disinfection news.

Various reports confirm a bright future for UVC disinfection equipment
It’s good to see more than one industry report about the future of UV disinfection tech predicting sharp increases and ‘fantastic’ compound annual growth rates for technology like ours.

Indian railways harness UVC robots to clean trains
The Delhi Division of India’s railways has released a video showing a UV light robot disinfecting train carriages for covid. India’s travel sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, and transport companies have been working to pin down solutions to get their sector moving again. The first robot was deployed on the 02004 New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express route, a machine that cleverly extends its arms to spread the UV light far and wide, moving automatically through each empty carriage to leave it covid-free.

UV covid disinfection tech at Boston Dental and in Las Vegas schools
Over in the USA a highly respected multi-speciality dental centre is using state of the art air filtration plus UV disinfection robots to clean its premises and keep patients safe from covid. As the report says, “Boston Dental’s UV disinfection robots have proven UV germicidal industrial solutions that eradicate harmful viruses, pathogens, and bacteria. UV-C light is the more convenient option in cleaning and disinfection as it kills 99.99% of bacteria with its 360° degree disinfection coverage. UV Disinfection Robots only need ten minutes to cleanse a room of damaging harmful organisms and keep them from multiplying.”

In Las Vegas, schools are using UV light for covid disinfection. The city has the USA’s fifth-biggest school system so it’s an important decision.

UVC disinfection makes popular Brixton eatery safe
The Nanban restaurant in Brixton is using a hospital-grade UVC disinfection robot on the premises to keep covid at bay.

Organisations around the globe close their doors thanks to covid outbreaks
While savvy businesses are investing in proven UVC disinfection robots like ours, other places around the world are having to close their doors because they haven’t taken steps to keep people safe. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) building in Muntinlupa City, Philippines, had to close down after recording 29 covid cases. Factories are closing down temporarily in Malaysia. Fifty shops a day closed in the UK during the first 6 months of 2021. And India’s ongoing school closures are proving ‘catastrophic’, particularly for poor students.

Wales u-turns on ozone covid disinfection machines
Welsh government ministers had intended to splash out around £3.31m on 1800 ozone machines developed by Swansea University. Then they u-turned in the face of safety concerns. Now the Welsh government’s Technical Advisory Group will be examining the results of early trials of the machines before deciding to buy.

The tech has already been extensively tested at Swansea University and in three school scenarios. But ozone is a highly toxic gas that damages the lungs, which means the machines – like ours – are suitable for disinfecting empty spaces where there are no people or animals. At the same time the head teachers union NAHT said it had received ‘little detail’ about the machines, having been given no information about how safe or effective they are, the number available, and the date they’d be delivered. They’re still waiting to see the evidence supporting the tech.

Wales is also spending £2.58m on CO2 traffic light monitors for classrooms, designed to give a simple visual signal of poor air quality when CO2 levels rise. The idea is to do a better job of school ventilation.
We think they’d benefit from exploring UVC covid disinfection tech which is already proven to work, and has been used in UK and worldwide healthcare settings for decades.

No more delays – Future-proof your business with covid disinfection UCV robot tech
Have you been patiently waiting for things to get better? We’re almost 18 months into the pandemic and things remain uncertain. If you’d like to bring back some certainty to your dental clinic or hairdressing salon, theatre or school, shop or restaurant, we’ll be pleased to talk UVC robot tech with you. It’s reliable, proven, and affordable.

The latest UK covid news – How vaccines are much safer than covid

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 19:15:02 GMT

The number of patients in hospital with covid is the highest since March 2021, with a rise of 350% over the last two months. Cases are doubling every week in Scotland. The West Country, Cumbria and other areas are suffering from tourist-led surges and there are big concerns about what’ll happen when the schools go back. So what’s going on this week in our covid world?

The risks to your health are worse after a covid infection
If you were worried about vaccines and blood clots, new research should settle your mind. A study at the University of Oxford reveals the risk of blood clotting problems is much higher after an actual covid infection than it is after a vaccine. The research involved more than 29 million people aged 16 or more, so must be one of the most reliable from a statistical perspective – you can’t argue with the results of such a huge study.

The findings suggest the risk of something called thrombocytopenia in a person who has caught the virus is almost 9 times more than in a person who had one dose of the Oxford jab. The analysis also pinned down a link between vaccination with Pfizer jab and a bigger risk of a stroke, but again the risk was a great deal worse – more than 10 times worse – after an actual infection. And in the case of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, and other kinds of blood clot, the risk was much higher after catching covid than after either kind of jab.

There’s more. While younger people are more likely to get myocarditis, a rare heart condition, after some vaccines, a study in the USA revealed the condition is much more common after a covid infection than after a jab.

The message is clear – vaccination is a lot better for your health than catching covid.

Jabs for kids
The NHS is preparing to roll out vaccines to 12-15 year olds in England from 6th September. While the Department of Health says a firm decision hasn’t been made, the NHS must ‘continue to plan for a range of scenarios’. Children aged 12 and over are already being vaccinated in the US, Canada, France and the Netherlands. As Devi Sridhar at the University of Edinburgh told BBC Radio 4, ‘either you’re going to be exposed to covid without any protection or you can be exposed and have a vaccine. And we should be offering teens that vaccine so they have that protection before going back into schools’.

More insight into Long Covid
A study looking at 1276 people in Wuhan, China, reveals about half of the people hospitalised with covid suffer at least one persistent symptom a year later. About 66% experienced shortness of breath after a year, and fatigue and muscle weakness affected about 50% of the participants after six months, falling to 20% after a year.

Johnson & Johnson booster shots deliver big benefits to antibody levels
Trials show a booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson jab provides a big boost to antibody levels. Volunteers had a second dose 6-8 months after their original jab saw antibody levels rise nine times higher than they did 28 days after their first shot.

New Zealand relaxes its restrictions again
Most of New Zealand will relax again from 1st September, but tough restrictions will stay in place in Auckland and Northland. Jacinda Ardern says the latest outbreak, which affected 350 people, might be easing, with a plateau underway, but ‘caution is still required’.

Get disinfected with UVC covid disinfection robots
Our UVC robots are fitted with powerful LEDs that throw out lots of lovely, disinfecting UVC light, emitted at the perfect wavelength to kill covid as well as a host more horrid viruses. The tech has been used in healthcare settings for decades, now it’s available to businesses. Does that sound good? The certainty is offers might even help to save your business. Let’s have an exciting discussion about how we can help you achieve a much better level of ‘normal’.

Disinfection robots star in a new ‘virus-resilient’ office

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 15:45:31 GMT

If you’ve been worrying about having to go back to work in an office or other business premises, you’re not alone. The thought of being exposed to covid, with fewer people wearing masks and social distancing fading away, is giving plenty of us nightmares. But one office in Romania has pulled out all the stops to keep people safe, and it might just become the new normal. This is what it means to work in an anti-covid office.

135 different anti-covid measures
The five storey ‘H3’ office block in Bucharest is stuffed with 135 different anti-covid machines, technologies, materials, and psychological measures. The list includes door handles that open without the need to use your hands, all sorts of cool self-clean surfaces, antimicrobial paint, tools to monitor the air quality, and UV light disinfection robots like ours.

There’s a large digital display in the foyer of the building where employees can check out the building’s ‘immunity-boosting’ measures, from the amount of rubbing alcohol in store to the levels of CO2 and Volatile Organic Compounds inside. They can even watch videos explaining the science behind the anti-covid technologies used in the building.

The doors are open-able with an elbow or lower arm and the floors and fittings have curved edges so less dirt can accumulate. And there’s low tech stuff too, to take into account the fact that covid spreads mostly through human behaviour. Businesses using the building will still be encouraged to use good, old-fashioned ‘cross ventilation’ methods like opening windows and keeping desks a good distance apart, too.

To get into the building, you stand at a red line while a thermal body camera 2m away scans you for fever. Assuming you’re OK you’re sent to a self-clean lift, kept safe thanks to a UV lighting disinfection system fitted inside the ventilation shafts. The same attention to anti-virus detail carries on throughout and affects every aspect of the building. And all this cost around a million Euros.

The open source ‘Immune’ standard has hopes to go Europe-wide
The same standard, which comes under the new trademark ‘Immune’, is also at work here in the UK as well as the USA. Immune certification could easily become a highly desirable benefit to office workers and even could play a part in attracting the best people to work for a business. The H3 building is the best-protected space in the world so far, incorporating all 135 measures recommended for certification. The people involved in creating the Immune standard have applied to the EU to create the basis for a new standard across the continent, very like the current EU fire safety codes.

Ericsson’s employees lead the way
Ericsson is the current occupant of H3, using a 15,500m2 space retrofitted at a cost of €375,000, half paid by Ericsson and the rest by the landlord. The space is by no means filled, with only a few workers in there compared to the potential 2000 employees.

The magic of UVC light disinfection robots
Once everyone’s gone home for the evening a robot makes its lonely way around the building, disinfecting everything touched by the UVC light and killing pathogens. And that’s where we come in.

Our UVC covid disinfection robots take a surprisingly short time to disinfect every surface the light touches as well as the air it passes through. They kill off an impressive list of horrors including Ebola, SARS, MERS, and hospital acquired infections as well as covid, and the tech comes at an affordable price.

Can we help you keep your employees safer? Let’s talk about the potential – feel free to contact us

Clean air special - Covid, ventilation, and UVC disinfection technology

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 08:45:02 GMT

Scientists are calling it ‘the ventilation problem’. As winter approaches and the schools go back, it’s vital to improve the airflow in public spaces to reduce covid transmission. But there are big questions around the best technology to use, and even bigger questions around the tricky issue of retro-fitting suitable ventilation tech to thousands and thousands of buildings.

SAGE member Cath Noakes, an environmental engineer, says it all. In her words, “Ventilation is a critically important control measure for covid-19.” The WHO accepts airborne transmission is ‘critically important’.
Add the fact that schools are rarely ventilated well but are packed with mostly-unvaccinated children who are naturally not very good at social distancing, and the risk becomes even greater. Ultimately the same goes for all the spaces where people congregate, including workplaces, pubs and restaurants, colleges, gyms, cinemas and theatres, public loos, churches, and public transport.

It’s widely known covid is easily transported across a room in very small particles, and can quickly build up if there isn’t enough ventilation. We also know poor ventilation is a superspreader. But sadly ventilation isn’t as simple as opening a window.

How is good ventilation defined?
What, exactly, is ‘good’ ventilation? It’s another question we can’t answer. Some use a measure involving how many times the air is completely replaced per hour, but at the same time there’s no way to use that number to figure out the right ventilation rates in a buildings and manage covid infections. Add the fact that every building is different and it’s clear we’re in a difficult position. As Stephen Reicher from the University of St Andrews said, “It’s all very well the government advising everyone to ‘ventilate’, but how can you know if public spaces aren’t well-ventilated if we don’t have clear standards, if those standards are not publicised and if the spaces are not monitored?”

A simple way to pin down the ventilation rate
Luckily you can use a CO2 monitor to estimate the amount of exhaled air in a space. The level of CO2 simply reveals how much of the air has been breathed out by other people, making it a handy little tool in the search of a reliable ventilation rate.

While the way a building is managed can also have a dramatic impact, ventilation tends to be low on the priority list because it’s hard to get right as well as invisible, seen as an expensive luxury rather than essential. Even if a building has a decent ventilation system it’s unlikely to be well maintained. Here in the UK only a tiny number of buildings have good ventilation built in. And many office building windows are not open-able for safety reasons.

Is air conditioning a good idea in a covid world?
Perhaps counter-intuitively, air conditioning can make things worse. Aircon as part of a wider mechanical ventilation system is usually OK. It cools the air while bringing in fresh air. But the most common systems, called recirculating units, just circulate the same air over and over.

Filters could be useful. HEPA filters, AKA high-efficiency particulate absorbing filters, work well in some types of space but not all. In every case the tech needs to be designed to suit the specific environment. At the moment 30 Bradford primary schools are testing HEPA filters as well as UV light to see how they cut covid transmission. It’ll be interesting to see the results.

It’s important to understand that even the best-in-breed air cleaning system alone can’t keep us safe. Because ventilation only prevents airborne transmission beyond 1.5m from a person, we still need masks, distancing, surface cleaning, and strict hand-hygiene.

Poor air quality has bedevilled us for long enough
May saw an international team of researchers publishing an appeal for a ‘fundamental rethink’ about air quality. It has been a long time coming. They say today’s terrible indoor air quality fails to protect us from airborne pathogens like covid, and ‘must be upgraded’. They also say the challenge is as big as that faced by cities in the 1800s, when there was a deadly public health problem thanks to poor quality water and non-existent sewage systems.

Who is acting early?
New York City is publishing the air quality for every classroom in its public school system. They say every classroom must have at least two methods of ventilation. Belgium has started insisting that every public building displays its CO2 level. But in the UK we’re dragging our heels.

Let’s leave the last word to the scientists. Gabriel Scally, the president of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Epidemiology & Public Health Section: “This is an airborne disease. If it was coming through our water supply we’d take action, and we should be taking action with our air supplies. Stephen Reicher from the University of St Andrews agrees. As he says, “We wouldn’t tolerate our children having to drink water which infects them, but we seem to tolerate dirty air. There’s got to be a fundamental change in attitude.”

UVC LED covid disinfection helps fill the gap
Until every relevant UK building has the air quality the people who live and work in it deserve, there’s another reliable way to kill covid in the air and on surfaces, and it’s UVC tech. Used in healthcare settings for decades, we’ve used UVC technology to create brilliant UVC covid disinfection machines. They’re safe to use and the results are excellent. If you’d like to take steps to keep people safer, let’s explore the potential together.

Coronavirus News – The latest on Covid from around the world.

Mon, 23 Aug 2021 11:55:53 GMT

One of the best ways to get an accurate picture of the pandemic’s ongoing progress is to take a look at what’s happening around the world. Here’s the latest covid news, in a week where UK covid cases shot up by 13.5% compared to the week before, with another 32, 253 new infections.

New Zealand’s no tolerance covid policy is under threat
New Zealand is struggling to cope with an outbreak of delta so serious it might bring an end to the country’s impressive no tolerance policy. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there have already been over 320 ‘locations of interest’ linked to the outbreak and 13,000 contacts recorded. In her words, “Delta has changed the rules of the game."
In Australia, Sydney is suffering. The city’s lockdown has been extended until the end of September and there’s a curfew on the cards every night from 23rd August onwards for 2 million people living in the 12 worst-affected areas.

The UK government’s approved covid testing provider list has been slashed
57 companies are due to be taken off the UK government's list of approved covid testing providers after a quality and pricing review returned shockingly bad results. The review looked at companies offering day two and day eight tests for overseas arrivals. Many of the companies didn’t have the right accreditation and others were charging far too much.

Young people with long covid make a vaccine appeal to their age group
The NHS has released a new video starring young people who are suffering with long covid, appealing for others in the age group to get their jabs. All three are in their early 20s and 30s and were perfectly healthy before catching the virus. One ended up being hospitalised and was sure he was going to die. People aged 16 - 29 are the most at risk of long covid, but at the same time vaccine take-up has been lower than average in the group.

Ronapreve given the OK to treat covid symptoms in the UK
The UK has approved using a drug called Ronapreve to treat covid. It uses artificial antibodies to prevent as well as fight the illness. It’s apparently useful for preventing infection, treating acute symptoms, and cutting the risk of being admitted to hospital. Ronapreve has been developed by the pharmaceutical giants Regeneron and Roche and can be taken either as an infusion or a jab. It sticks to the virus inside the respiratory system, stopping it from actually getting inside cells. At the same time, a new antibody drug from AstraZeneca reduces the chance of getting symptomatic covid by 77%.

The UK’s booster campaign – The latest
The UK government is ‘confident’ that their planned booster jab campaign can start in September. But at the same time they’re waiting for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s final advice before pressing the button. Adam Finn, a Committee member, told the BBC he thinks there is enough evidence for boosters but at the same time said, “I think we do need more evidence before we can make a firm decision on a much broader booster programme.” He added that it was “less clear really whether a third dose in a more general way, for sort of all people above a certain age, is really going to make very much difference.”

Waning vaccine effectiveness and the delta variant
A piece of research carried out in the UK reveals how protection from the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines reduces as time passes. While they both give great protection against symptomatic infection by delta, they’re about 15% less effective against delta than they are against alpha. There are also hints that vaccinated people who catch delta could be just as infectious as people who haven’t been vaccinated at all, and that’s very worrying.

What does the latest covid news tell us?
Roll all this news together and what do you get? We’re reminded that delta is a serious adversary, able to flout the best-laid plans of countries whose zero tolerance covid policy was highly effective against the early variants. We understand there are still questions around the efficacy or otherwise of a third top-up jab. And while pharmaceutical companies are pulling out all the stops to create new ways to treat the virus, the pandemic still has a very long way to go.

All this means it makes a lot of sense to get your business prepared for the long haul, with proven UVC light technology that uses environmentally friendly LED lights to mess with the virus’ RNA and DNA so badly it can’t reproduce, so it dies. It works, it’s been used in healthcare settings for decades, and our machines help keep your staff, suppliers and customers safe. It’s fast, effective, and great value for money. Let’s explore the potential!

Busting the herd immunity myth - There’s “no chance” it’ll happen

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 07:00:03 GMT

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve heard constant mutterings about herd immunity. Scientists have called it a ‘scientific illiterate’ idea but some say the government has been very keen on it from the start.

Herd immunity only happens once enough people are immune to make it impossible for a virus to spread. It’s a nice thought. But does it make any scientific sense? Is the UK anywhere near that magical herd immunity threshold? And will we ever get there?

The bad news – herd immunity is probably impossible
Scientists say herd immunity is unlikely to happen any time soon, and might be impossible to achieve anyway. Herd immunity happens when everyone with covid infects less than one person, the R number we’re so familiar with these days. In theory this can happen via vaccination or infection itself, both of which deliver some future immunity. But in real life, in the real world, humanity has only ever reached herd immunity via inoculation, for example smallpox, which was finally eradicated in 1980 after a massive worldwide vaccination drive.

When covid kicked off the R number was roughly 2.5. The latest estimates say the Delta variant comes with an R number of 5 - 9.5, according to scientists. This means the current herd immunity threshold falls somewhere between 80-90% of Brits being fully vaccinated.

At the same time there’s no such thing as a 100% effective vaccine. While our covid vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe disease, they don’t always stop infections. Some of us pass it on even though we’ve been vaccinated. At the same time it looks like vaccines are only up to 79% effective against delta.

There’s more to consider: how much social contact people have, the age they get infected, their particular immune system and genetic make-up, and any pre-existing immunity. All this means there really is only one way to reach herd immunity – we need vaccines that deliver ‘near-sterilising immunity’, where covid is totally stopped from replicating, and we must achieve a very high uptake of these vaccines.

Taking all this into account, herd immunity is just not going to be possible. It will only work if every single person in the UK has both jabs, plus any boosters that become available. Sadly, immunity to covid is only short-lived, re-infection is entirely possible, and variants that evade immunity are more likely than ever before thanks to the UK covid restrictions being lifted.

It’s also worrying that the speed of vaccine roll-out worldwide isn’t smooth. If a country with high vaccination rates does manage to achieve herd immunity, contact with people from other countries will spark outbreaks. This already happens in the UK with measles.

The message is clear – there’s “no chance of ever reaching herd immunity”
On 10th August scientists at an all-party UK parliamentary committee ‘were unanimous in their opinion that the UK wasn’t going to reach herd immunity.’ They say the UK will reach an ‘endemic equilibrium’ instead, where covid becomes seasonal, emerging every year.

The message from the people who understand the science is clear. Nobody should be banking on herd immunity. Everybody should get vaccinated. The illness remains ‘potentially deadly and can have long-term health consequences’.

Endemic covid means you need our UVC covid disinfection tech more than ever
This might be one of the best business decisions you ever made. Invest in a UVC covid disinfection machine and you’ll be able to wheel it out for years to come, whenever a covid surge turns up to disrupt things, and threaten your customers and staff.

The future of covid and England's ‘dangerous path’

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:15:20 GMT

As long as covid exists anywhere in the world, new variants will remain a threat. It depends on the opportunities it has to mutate and the selective pressures it faces. The UK currently has high numbers of cases and high vaccination levels, which means the conditions are ideal for new variants – and that's why England's approach has been so widely criticised worldwide.

Over half of UK adults have had two jabs, and we're now a few weeks into what scientists are calling England's ‘dangerous path’, with most restrictions lifted. So what might the future look like as we begin to ‘live with’ the virus?

What ‘living with covid’ means right now and in the near future

We're facing a predicted 100,000 cases a day, mostly involving younger people
The link between cases, hospital admissions and deaths has been weakened, but it isn't anywhere near broken
The government says there's a four times lower risk of hospitalisation and around ten times less risk of dying
A SAGE model suggests there'll be 100 - 200 deaths a day at the next peak. The worst case scenario - deaths and hospital admissions could exceed what we saw in spring 2020
The earliest the next wave might peak is mid-August, but the timing depends on how quickly people stop taking precautions
Experts predict that any increase in hospitalisations will affect routine treatments, adding to the NHS' already serious backlog
SAGE says the biggest risks are a rise in long covid cases, workplace absences, and new variants
Another wave could force the government to bring back restriction

What about the covid risks we'll face as individuals?

Even if you're low risk, you can still pass covid on to vulnerable relatives and friends because vaccines don't totally prevent transmission
A percentage of people will remain concerned about catching covid or ending up with long covid, and the vulnerable remain vulnerable
Older people who've been vaccinated can get different covid symptoms when they catch the virus, often becoming withdrawn and delirious, and stopping eating and drinking. Care home managers know this, and are keeping their eyes open
Less social distancing and mask-wearing makes it riskier for vulnerable people to mix with others. People with weak immune systems tend to have a vaccine effectiveness of 74% compared to around 85% for the rest of us. Some people with very weak immune systems can have no antibodies to the virus at all, even after 2 doses of vaccine
The current four 'variants of concern' are alpha, beta, gamma and delta. The WHO has added 'variants of interest' to the list: eta, iota, kappa and lambda. More variants are emerging

How about the longer term covid future – What might that look like?

There's no chance covid will just go away. Like the 1918 flu virus, which is still around, we'll need to cope with it for years if not decades or even centuries. Scientists have taken a look at various aspects of our lives and predicted what might happen in the not too distant future. This is what they're saying:

The 2020-21 winter flu season didn't happen thanks to covid. Influenza, the common cold and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) barely had any impact. The Academy of Medical Sciences says the UK can probably expect a worse than usual flu season this winter, with 1.5 to 2.2 times the normal number of flu cases, more RSV cases, and more colds
Opening up society means more people will die from covid-19 than if restrictions remained. Unlike the UK many countries, including New Zealand, have decided no infections or deaths are acceptable, instead insisting on elimination. A team at Imperial College London predicts anything from 9400 to 113,000 deaths from covid in England between July 2021 and June 2022
More of us will end up with long covid. The number of long covid cases is growing by 700 a day at the moment
Most UK under 18s haven't been vaccinated. Their infection rate is soaring, putting others at risk. This means children and young people will quickly become the source of most infections in vulnerable people
The search is already on for treatments that people with milder covid could take at home. It's good to know that every drug that works as a treatment might also prove to be a good preventative medicine. There's a trial into two preventative drugs going on right now at the University of Nottingham, and more around the world. One, molnupiravir, has been proven to reduce hospital admissions in India, in people with mild covid
In a few decades' time younger people might not have any immunity to the original variants. Another variant then could trigger more waves of infection, as happened with the 2009 swine flu pandemic which hit young people worst of all

What's the worst case covid scenario?

The worst case scenario is a future with ongoing waves of severe disease. This could happen if worldwide global vaccination rates remain too low (as they are now), immunity doesn’t last, covid mutates to evade our immune response, or covid simply becomes a lot more serious
The middle and most likely outcome is that covid eventually becomes a flu-like seasonal virus with 'intermittent epidemic peaks', managed via vaccination
The best-case scenario? Covid fades away to become not much worse than the four coronaviruses that cause the common cold

The future is covid – You need UVC covid disinfection!

Even if the most likely second scenario happens, humanity will have to live with covid for a very long time to come. This virus will change our world for the foreseeable future. If you've been delaying taking permanent measures like buying one of our covid disinfection machines, which use UVC light to kill the virus off, you might want to bite the bullet and make your business safe sooner rather than later.

Covid 19 news from around the world – The pandemic continues

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:35:52 GMT

You’d be forgiven for feeling the pandemic is on its way out, with restrictions mostly lifted and residents of the UK left to decide for themselves how many, if any, precautions they take. In some ways we’re getting an early taste of what it’ll be like living with covid. In other ways our country is taking a risk no other nation is prepared to take, going it alone while others continue to impose restrictions. Here are some facts about the current situation in the UK.

Covid facts – August 2021

Experts are warning that the UK is 'running hot' around managing covid, as infection rates remain uncomfortably high. In England alone the infection prevalence is about 25 times higher than it was at this time last year. The number of cases is currently rising in all four nations. Northern Ireland is the worst, with 1 in 55 people estimated to have had covid in the first week in August. In England it’s 1 in 75 of us
Some scientists suggest covid deaths and hospital admissions may fall in August. But while vaccines are cutting back hospital admissions and deaths, high case numbers are still putting an ‘unnecessary burden’ on the NHS
Most regions in England could see admissions falling while London and the South East might have a small increase. In England deaths are expected to remain low but scientists say modelling can’t predict the future and the situation could easily worsen when the schools go back in September
While the expected big spike in UK cases hasn’t happened yet, it remains a serious risk and nobody knows why it hasn’t happened yet
In Ireland children aged 12 to 15 will be vaccinated – the drive has already begun
In the UK as a whole we fall 27th out of the top 30 ‘partially vaccinated’ countries, with 69.6% of us fully vaccinated. In other words, we’re no longer doing very well, and we’re falling behind
Hull has the highest covid rate in England at almost 600 infections per 100,000 people
At the moment the highest infection rates in the world are found in the UK, Iran, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Spain, Malaysia and Botswana
The UK is deploying the army, and not just to handle the current Brexit-fuelled transport difficulties. Health services in England are becoming so overwhelmed that the military has been drafted in to help ambulance staff in some regions

How about the rest of the world? International covid news
We live in a world that’s closely connected, which means the things that happen elsewhere will ultimately affect the UK. So what’s going on out there?

France’s mandatory vaccine pass is working – ‘grumpy’ people who have so far refused vaccinations are finally turning up for their jabs
In the USA hospitals have started to reach full capacity thanks to covid cases. The worst affected are Alabama, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Tennessee
The USA is struggling to cope with vaccine ‘hesitancy’ and vaccine misinformation. In Tennessee there are some particularly crazy lies being spread involving sinister ‘quarantine camps’, National Guard round-ups, permanent lockdowns, and livestock being vaccinated to trick hesitant meat eaters into being inoculated via their food. These are all untrue
One Australian state has confirmed they’ll be handing out stiff on-the-spot fines for people who break the lockdown rules or tell fibs to contact tracers. New South Wales is facing its ‘worst situation... since day one’, with local infections surging by a record-breaking 466 in just 24 hours
In Serbia, a hermit who has lived in an isolated cave for 20 years has come down from the mountains for his jabs. He says he doesn’t understand vaccine hesitancy
Iran has just locked down again amid its 5th wave
Russia has just confirmed its worst ever covid day with 819 deaths. Moscow’s July mortality rate was 60% higher than July 2020

Disinfect your spaces safely and fast with UVC covid disinfection technology
Whether you run a beauty salon or a school, a theatre or a bar, UVC technology kills covid quickly and effectively on every surface the light touches. There’s no way you could achieve the same without a huge team of human cleaners working constantly with nasty chemical cleaning products to keep things safe.

How air quality matters more than ever in a covid future

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 13:35:51 GMT

At this stage in the covid game there's absolutely no chance the virus is going away. Scientists say it has become endemic, a disease that'll circulate the world for the foreseeable future, popping up in its usual form or as variants, forcing lockdowns and vaccination drives for decades if not centuries to come. Even if the virus calms down and becomes as relatively safe as the common cold, which is not very likely, it'll probably take centuries to do so.

So we're stuck with this thing, and that means the impact of the coronavirus is going to be felt for a very long time. One of the biggest impacts is likely to be on humanity's attitude to indoor air quality. In every country, from first world to third world, we've been working in poorly ventilated spaces full of used, dirty air for a very long time. If we're going to navigate the risky covid future we all face safely, indoor air quality will have to change for the better... and fast.

We understood the importance of hygiene before covid

In the 1800s, in the UK, we finally woke up to the fact that unsanitary conditions and water supplies were killing thousands of us every year, rich and poor. The nation's terrible sanitation was a scandal, and it led to cities across the planet creating new, clean sewers and drinking water systems. Now there's an air quality revolution underway. As Lidia Morawska at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, says, “We should have virus-free air indoors.”

How to tell if the air is clean?

One simple way to know how clean their air is indoors is to display the amount of CO2 in it, which reveals how much of the air has been shared with other people. In Belgium officials have recommended making CO2 readings available in every indoor public space. They've already ordered hotels, restaurants, bars and gyms to get going.

Scientists ask the WHO to update its air quality standards

As a direct result of the virus, more than 40 scientists have petitioned the WHO to improve indoor air quality standards and take airborne pathogens like covid into account. While current indoor ventilation standards major on things like temperature, humidity, CO2 and smells, they need upgrading to include better airflow, air filtration and air disinfection.

New York City schools act fast on ventilation

New York City is already steaming ahead with new rules for schools. Classrooms, for example, must have at least two working ways to ventilate spaces, and the schools’ ventilation status is published online.

Air quality sensors to warn us when covid is in the air

There are several teams of scientists working hard to create sensors that can warn us when the virus is detected in the air or in dust. Some bright ideas are for wearable sensors embedded into face masks and clothes.

UVC light kills airborne covid in no time

UV light is being widely investigated as a simple, fast way to disinfect against covid. It messes with the virus's DNA and RNA so it can't replicate and dies. The results of a vast number of experiments going on around the world reveal how UVC light, at certain wavelengths, renders the virus totally harmless. That's what our machines do, complete with lots of essential safety features, super-simple settings, and modern LED bulbs designed to save energy. And our tech is very good value for money, too.

If you want to start cleaning the air at your premises now, and also disinfect every surface the light touches in the exact same way that hospitals and other healthcare settings have been doing for decades, it's time to invest in our UVC disinfection technology. Why wait?

Covid and UVC disinfection news from a round the globe

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 10:52:28 GMT

On 31st July the UK suffered 71 deaths and more than 26,000 new cases. In the past 7 days we've had 187,548 new confirmed cases. Worldwide the death toll has passed 4.2 million, with more than 196.7 million confirmed cases, and globally 2.19 billion of us have had at least one dose of a vaccine. Here's the latest covid news.

Pregnant women 'urged' to get their covid jabs

Covid hospital admissions among pregnant women are rising fast in the UK. As a result England’s chief midwifery officer, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, has encouraged pregnant women to get vaccinated, especially important since pregnancy might come with an increased risk from the delta variant.

An earlier study at the University of Oxford looked at data from 194 hospitals in the UK. They found 3371 pregnant women were admitted to hospital with covid symptoms between 1st March 2020 and 11th July 2021. It was clear the severity of illness people experienced got worse with each wave. 24% of pregnant women admitted during the first UK first wave suffered moderate or severe disease, compared to 36% thanks to the second wave alpha variant, and 45% with the third wave, the delta variant.

It also seems clear pregnant women are more severely affected by the delta variant. Out of 742 pregnant women admitted to hospital with covid symptoms during the study period, just four had been given their first dose of a vaccine and none had been given both doses. Around 99% of pregnant women hospitalised with covid were not vaccinated. Among the general population, about 60% of people admitted to hospital with covid are unvaccinated.

Japan's state of covid emergency

As the Olympics rolls on, Japan is suffering from 'surging' covid cases. The country is expanding its current state of emergency to cover the city of Osaka and surrounding areas, and it'll stay in place until 31st August.

China's latest surge – This time in Nanjing

China is busy testing every single resident of the city of Nanjing for covid after around 200 people tested positive in a new outbreak.

Covid case rise in England worries the experts

Around 1 in 65 people in England are positive right now, up from 1 in 75 last week. Wales are doing a great deal better at 1 in 210 and Scotland is also performing a lot better at 1 in 170. In Scotland cases are dropping at the moment.

In England a run of rising daily cases has reversed the seven-day trend of declining daily case numbers. Some say the increase could even represent 'the very first signs of increasing infections in response to the ending of restrictions on 19th July', but only time will tell.

As the new health minister Sajid Javid said, “when it comes to case numbers no one really knows where they are going to go next”. He recommends 'caution', having already warned that UK cases could rise to 100,000 a day now that most of the restrictions have been removed in England.

Immunity declines – Third doses are on the way

A rise in the delta variant has inspired Israel to start offering third doses for people aged over 60. They're providing third doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine because there's a noticeable decline in immunity as time passes. The supplementary dose should build immunity back up again. There are also rumblings about third doses potentially being offered in the UK this autumn.

The virucidal effects of UVC light proven by yet another scientific study

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 10:49:44 GMT

When something's reported in a respected world-class scientific journal like Nature magazine, it's worth sitting up and taking notice. Thanks to Nature for publishing a key study of the potential virucidal effects of UVC light, revealing once more how remarkably effective it is at killing off covid along with other worrying infections like SARS, MERS, Ebola and Hospital Acquired Infections. The original article was written in science-speak, so we've done our best to translate it into plain language for you!

UVC covid disinfection evaluated at different doses and virus concentrations

The team evaluated the 'potential virucidal effects of UV-C irradiation on SARS-CoV-2' at different illumination doses and virus concentrations. At around the same dose you'd get from a regular infection, a UV-C dose of just 3.7 mJ/cm2 was enough to achieve inactivation without any sign of viral replication. Also, 'complete inactivation at all viral concentrations' was observed at 16.9 mJ/cm2.

The report explains how 'non-contact disinfection' is highly desirable and that UV radiation, in particular UV-C (200–280 nm), is already known to inactivate different viruses. The paper's authors hope their results will lead to an even better understanding of the effects of UV-C on SARS-CoV-2, taking into account 'all the key factors involved in the experimental setting'.

The effect of monochromatic UV-C (254 nm) on covid is apparently clear, which means virus inactivation can be easily achieved. Experiments were conducted using a custom-designed low-pressure mercury lamp system at three different illumination exposure times. After UV-C exposure, the team looked at the viral replication.

The impact of UV-C exposure on SARS-CoV-2 replication was 'extremely evident'. Six days after infection, viral replication was 'distinctly evident' in the samples unexposed to UV-C, but 'completely absent' following UV-C irradiation, even at low doses. All of the team's results have been confirmed by further strict statistical analyses performed on viral replication at an intracellular level.

In conclusion, the team reports that their 'highly controlled experimental model' has allowed them to pin down the UV-C radiation dose required to inactivate SARS-CoV-2, with the results also depending on the virus concentration. A surprisingly small dose of UVC is all that's needed to deal with virus concentrations typical of a 'low-level contaminated closed environment' like a classroom, and also the saliva of infected people. A concentration of less than 4 mJ/cm2 was enough to 'achieve full inactivation of the virus'.

The results reveal how covid is 'extremely sensitive to UV-C light'. Even at the highest viral input concentration of 1000 MOI, 'viral replication was totally inactivated with a dose ≥ 16.9 mJ/cm2'.

Just in case you wondered, our machines give off UV-C light at 265nm. And that means they inactivate the covid virus quickly, cleanly and effectively. Our machines have loads of settings and safety features that make them easy to use, and they work impressively quickly to clean indoor spaces of all kinds. Wherever the light touches, it inactivates the virus... and that's something a team of human cleaners would find hard to achieve, even if they only had to disinfect a space once a day.

Let's talk about covid-killing!

Get in touch if you'd like to discuss how you can safely, quickly kill covid with one of our LED UVC machines.

Citation: Biasin, M., Bianco, A., Pareschi, G. et al. UV-C irradiation is highly effective in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 replication. Sci Rep 11, 6260 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85425-w.

The truth about the Pingdemic, China says 'no', Biden promises child vaccination .

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:46:04 GMT

“The reason that so many people are receiving notifications is simple, we have a highly transmissible virus that is being allowed to spread throughout the country with the bare minimum of mitigation.” So says Stephen Griffin from the University of Leeds, one of more than 1200 scientists backing a letter in the Lancet criticising the government’s plan to lift most coronavirus restrictions despite rising cases. Here's the coronavirus news.

The truth about the Pingdemic

England's 'dangerous experiment' continues. Weekly coronavirus cases and alerts from the NHS app in England are both rising. But there's nothing wrong with the app. The app is functioning in the exact way it was designed to work, revealing who has been in contact with an infected person and advising them to obey the law – which means self isolating. The only thing that's different? Infection rates are spiralling.

Against a landscape like this, seen by many as an extremely unwise social experiment, the risks you take are all down to you and your own judgement. As people who are genuinely following the science, we're appealing to everyone to remain cautious and do what you can to keep protecting others.

In the meantime growing numbers of British businesses, including supermarkets, shops, public transport networks and the police, are all reporting staff shortages thanks to so many people being pinged. The government says it's going to release a small number of essential jobs for which fully vaccinated staff can be exempt from self-isolation. But this can, in turn, lead to more infections. And more infections means the virus has more chances to change itself so it's less likely to be stopped by vaccination.

China refuses yet another investigation

A number of highly respected studies have already revealed the extreme unlikelihood of the virus being created – then escaping from – a lab in Wuhan. But some people want to keep on looking anyway, keen to apportion blame. Now China has put its foot down, refusing a World Health Organization plan for the second phase of an investigation into the origin of the pandemic. The next phase was due to carry out audits of labs and markets but the vice minister of China’s national health commission told reporters that the plan “in some aspects, disregards common sense and defies science”.

Biden goes in hard on the unvaccinated and says kids under 12 could be vaccinated

In the USA, where a worryingly large percentage of the population is refusing to get vaccinated, Joe Biden is going in hard. The accusations of 'selfishness' are starting to fly, and a two tier society – the vaccinated versus the non-vaccinated – is starting to emerge. Biden says children under 12 might be able to get vaccinated by the end of August at the earliest. Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna kicked off trials in children during March 2021, and the results will be released over the next few months.

Keep your employees, the public, your suppliers and everyone else safe

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Freedom Day 'an unethical experiment', immune responses and more…

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 14:45:25 GMT

So-called 'freedom day' took place last Monday in England. The country has ended most of the covid restrictions that were in place. At the same time cases continue to rise and many people, children included, are still not vaccinated. No wonder so many experts are calling the relaxation of restrictions an ‘unethical experiment’.

The worldwide covid-19 death toll has now exceeded 4.13 million, with more than 192.7 million cases officially recognised. Johns Hopkins University, in the USA, still predicts the true number of cases will be 'much higher'.

Decontaminating molecular diagnostic tools with UVC

Thanks to The Scientist website for reporting on the UVC experts at Phoseon, a company approached by a healthcare provider to help decontaminate molecular diagnostic tools. Now the project is complete, having creating the world’s biggest ever UVC LED decontamination system. The news means healthcare manufacturers should be able to scale production up without compromising the results – in this particular case a vital COVID-19 reverse transcriptase-PCR test kit.

The development is being hailed as an 'industry-changing solution' that brings 'speed and ease' to the decontamination process. It also maximises disinfection, increases productivity, and reduces costs. It looks like UVC LED decontamination brings a real solution to long-standing challenges around packaging and manufacturing vulnerable materials, which can also be applied to more sectors including pharmaceuticals and food safety.

(Source: https://www.the-scientist.com/the-marketplace/phoseon-technology-builds-the-world-s-largest-uvc-led-disinfection-system-to-date-68959)

How longer gaps between jabs delivers better immunity

Waiting longer between the first and second Pfizer/BioNTech jabs boosts your immune response, or so says one study. The research measured coronavirus antibody responses in 503 healthcare workers in England. They were given two doses of the vaccine at different intervals from late 2020 to early 2021, back when the Alpha strain was the biggest threat. Then they compared a 3 week gap with a 10 week gap. People who had a longer gap between jabs generated more neutralising antibodies.

Bearing the more infectious Delta variant in mind the scientists recommend an 8 week gap might be the best interval. The UK government extended the gap between Pfizer/BioNTech jabs to 12 weeks in December 2020, but on 15th July NHS England said it wanted people to bring their second jab forwards so the gap was no longer than 8 weeks.

Covid goes mad in England

Coronavirus infections rose sharply in all four nations, now they're falling a little bit. But those in the know warn that the current drop doesn't reflect the impact of Freedom Day, since there's always a gap between new freedoms and new infections. All we can do at this stage is hang on, see what happens, and hope for the best.

The latest random swab testing survey from the Office for National Statistics says around 1 in 75 of people in England had the virus during the week up to 17th July, up from 1 in 95 the week before. Scotland was 1 in 80, Ireland was 1 in 170 and Wales was 1 in 210.

Covid news from around the world

The countries that stopped covid in its tracks early and kept it away for months are still struggling to cope, revealing how very infectious Delta really is.

Until recently Australia had made it through 2021 without a single death from locally acquired covid-19. They'd banned international visitors and quarantined every Australian returning from overseas. June's fresh outbreak began with a Sydney limousine driver transporting international aircrew. Greater Sydney has been in lockdown since 26th June but the case numbers are still rocketing. This is the worst outbreak down under since 2020.

New Zealand is closing its travel bubble with all of Australia for 8 weeks minimum thanks to the boom in Australian cases. Qantas and Air New Zealand will cancel most services between Australia and New Zealand from the end of July.

The EU gives the green light to Moderna for kids

There's a massive gap in our national immunity, and it's because children haven't been vaccinated yet. Now the EU's medicines regulator has approved the Moderna jab for kids aged 12 and over. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has already been given the green light for children aged 12 and over.

Israel raises worries about Delta vaccination

Israel’s health ministry says studies suggest the Pfizer/BioNTech jab is less effective at preventing infection and symptoms caused by Delta. But all the same, while the jab is only 40% effective against Delta infection and symptoms, it is still 91.4% effective in preventing severe illness.

Is there an end in sight?

Are we coming to the end of covid? The short answer is 'no'. There's still no sign we're coming to the end of the pandemic. If you want to keep people and places safe, you still need to disinfect... and the only truly affordable, practical way to disinfect against the virus reliably without employing expensive teams of cleaners and using nasty chemicals is UVC LED covid disinfection.

England’s ‘high stakes gamble’ – Calculated risk or reckless?

chris@lucidsynergy.com (Chris Witham) — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 09:15:02 GMT

“The more the virus replicates, the more chances there are for it to change. In countries where many people have been vaccinated there will be a strong selection for any variants that can evade vaccine immunity”

Depending on your world view and attitude to risk, you'll see the reduced covid restrictions as a calculated risk or a reckless gamble. While the move might be good politics, plenty of experts say it isn't good public health policy. So what are the scientists saying?

'Freedom Day' opinions are divided

It's good news that the UK's vaccination efforts are hitting one vital goal, finally separating infection from severe disease. It's clear vaccinated people are less likely to become very ill and need hospital treatment, but it isn't guaranteed. You can't know whether or not you'll avoid catching the virus – or being very ill – until you actually catch it.

While Delta is still spreading worryingly fast, hospitalisations aren’t rising at the same rate. But health secretary Sajid Javid says that, thanks to the easing, new cases could hit 100,000 a day. And that's very worrying because the more cases there are, the more risk there is of new, more dangerous variants arising.

Delta on the rampage

Delta is spreading fast. One Australian caught it simply by walking past an infected person on the street. In the Netherlands 600 people attended a night club, all of whom either tested negative or were fully vaccinated. At least 165 of them caught the Delta variant anyway. As we write many countries are struggling to control the variant. No wonder a YouGov poll reveals 71% of people think masks should still be mandatory on public transport.

We should prepare for an 'exit wave'

Experts say we will probably have to endure an 'exit wave' before long. The Delta variant means herd immunity is already way out of reach. And no nation on earth is likely to achieve 100% vaccination. To get where we need to be, as a partly-vaccinated nation, our politicians are letting covid run wild through the population despite the inevitable deaths. They hope the survivors will be 'largely immune', but plenty of us will inevitably be left suffering from Long Covid.

How many covid deaths are acceptable?

The conversation around how many deaths and severe cases are acceptable is a difficult one. If you, personally, lose a family member or friend or end up battling Long Covid for months, how will you feel? How many deaths should we simply accept as collateral damage? None? One? A thousand? And what about the potential for legal action? If you run a business, relax the restrictions for your employees, someone dies from covid and you're taken to court, how will you fare? It's got to be worth considering.

As an employer, you're now responsible for public health. It's a serious responsibility. The people who have worked safely from home are inevitably going to be put at risk, as are those who have, so far, been protected at work thank to masks, distancing and physical barriers. And what happens to people who remain just as vulnerable to covid as they were before 'Freedom Day'? For them the world has suddenly become a lot more dangerous.

Scientists recommend a more careful, staggered approach to 'freedom'

People in the know are saying removing restrictions one at a time is 'indisputably a more responsible approach'. It would also help people and businesses navigate this new landscape, where the government has effectively handed over responsibility for people's safety to individuals and employers.

At the end of the day, as the scientists say, there's only one certainty. England is taking a 'big gamble', and the world will be watching to see what happens.

UVC covid disinfection technology could save your business

As an employer, the only real way to keep your people safe is to keep on keeping them safe! Our UVC covid disinfection technology will help you do exactly that. It's invaluable in an already uncertain world that has just become a whole lot less certain.

Source of all information and quotes: New Scientist magazine.

The hidden dangers of Benzalkonium chloride... neutralised

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 08:30:02 GMT

The disinfection sector has been one of the world's biggest covid winners, enjoying an unprecedented boom worth billions. At the same time the environmental impact of some cleaning chemicals is horrendous.
Now new research has revealed how UVC technology might play a role in keeping humanity and the seas and oceans we depend upon safe.

One of the biggest sinners is a substance called Benzalkonium chloride, shortened to BAK. It's the main ingredient in many disinfection and cleaning products made by household-name brands including Dettol. While it's very effective against a variety of bacteria and viruses, high levels are toxic. BAK is already finding its way into our waterways, flowing into the seas to create 'irreparable damage to marine environments'.

Obviously this can't be allowed to continue. Experts are calling for BAK to only be allowed in 'small, non-harmful doses', closely monitored for contact with food and with strict limits around the amount allowed in food. The European Commission has already reduced the maximum residual levels of BAK on consumables from 0.5 mg per kg to 0.1 mg per kg.

Neutralising the toxic BAK problem using UVC

Dr Manlong Xu and his team have been busy researching the dangers of BAK, especially its effects on the human eye. They've found the chemical risk presented by BAK can be 'neutralised' with UVC light, which means BAK can be used in higher concentrations without causing harm to humans or the environment.

UVC doesn't mess with the impressive cleaning properties of BAK disinfectants because it comes into play afterwards. You disinfect with BAK, then you bring in UVC afterwards to safely neutralise the BAK. UVC itself is also brilliant at killing off nasties like covid, SARS, MERS and Ebola. BAK breaks down the virus' cell membranes, UVC mutates their DNA, you get two powerful ways to kill covid and you cause a whole lot less harm to people, animals and our world because you've safely neutralised the BAK once it has done its job.

A match made in heaven

This represents a real win-win situation. Dual BAK-UVC disinfection should prove a huge benefit in hospitals, especially in preventing hospital acquired infections. Dual disinfection is more effective in stopping microbe growth on places chemical disinfection alone often miss, thanks to UVC light's greater reach. And one of the world's strongest yet most toxic chemical disinfection agents would finally be made safe.

As Dr David McCanna says, “There is absolutely a need for additional research into dual disinfection, especially given the current outbreak of COVID-19 and the commonality of outbreaks of microorganisms and foodborne illnesses in food processing plants which are affecting the supply of food throughout North America. Furthermore, aquatic animals are increasingly affected by the amount of disinfection that is required to combat all of these contagions. That is why the UVC method is so innovative, you increase the disinfection efficacy of your procedures whilst reducing the amount of toxicity of those disinfecting agents, so that they do not harm human health or the environment.”

Belt-and-braces dual disinfection

The UK is entering what scientists are calling a 'high stakes gamble' situation (Source: New Scientist magazine), with 'freedom' from covid restrictions in place from 19 ^th July. This means it's more important than ever to make sure your premises, your shop, cinema, theatre, school, surgery or anywhere else people work or play is as covid-free as possible. Now more than ever, it's time to get in touch for the details about our fantastic, highly effective and safe covid UVC disinfection machines.

Source: https://www.healtheuropa.eu/uvc-bak-dual-disinfection-heralds-a-new-age-of-infection-control/109852/

How ‘no tolerance’ national approaches are working best

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 16:52:46 GMT

The evidence is in, and it's damning. Countries that took strict pandemic suppression measures from the offset have done better in all sorts of ways, including health, wealth and civil liberties. Countries like the UK which decided to take a softer approach, mitigating rather than eliminating the virus, have done a lot worse.

Australia, Japan and South Korea have been praised for their covid-19 control strategies, ranked top five out of 37 rich countries. Along with Iceland and New Zealand, they took the right measures at the right time and have experienced the best possible outcomes for health, economic growth and civil liberties.

Will the UK join them? A key study published in The Lancet has a lot of relevance to our ongoing efforts to end the pandemic. Apparently all we need to do is move to an 'elimination strategy' and the UK could quickly become much healthier and wealthier.

The scientists involved in the study classified nations into two groups. The five elimination countries, where leaders took the maximum action 'at all times' to suppress covid, were compared to 32 mitigation countries. There were far fewer deaths in the five elimination countries compared to the rest. The quickly-imposed lockdowns they set in place, designed to eliminate the virus completely, ultimately ended up shorter and less strict than the UK's painfully long, less strict run of three lockdowns.

So what does a covid elimination strategy look like?

An elimination strategy involves means mass testing, supporting infected people to isolate, tracing their contacts and helping their contacts self-isolate. It also means strict border surveillance and fast, tough lockdowns whenever they're needed. As a whole, this approach is what the experts call 'infectious disease class 101'. Why hasn't the UK pursued this tactic?

The UK government has criticised strict elimination measures for damaging economies and civil liberties. In real life, according to the results of actual research, strict elimination performs better all round. And that's why Australia, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea have done so well compared to the UK.

Elimination countries have only 4% of the per capita death toll compared to mitigation countries
Elimination countries' GDP growth returned to pre-pandemic levels early in 2021, but mitigation countries' GDP and growth both remain below pre-pandemic levels
Elimination policies come with much less impact on civil liberty

As Alice Roberts, a SAGE member at the University of Birmingham, says, there is a “very firm evidence base that an elimination strategy is best for the economy, best for health, and impinges the least on civil liberties, which seems to be the main argument against it”.

Like the UK, four of the elimination countries are island nations. This probably makes them easier to control. The other one, South Korea, has just one very tightly controlled land border. While isolation has helped these countries succeed, other non-island nations came close, which means the UK could succeed. Denmark, for example, almost fell under the elimination country category but failed simply because so many Danes living in Sweden kept crossing and re-crossing the Øresund Bridge.

What the analysis means

The analysis should inform policies going forwards, but with 'Freedom Day' on the cards for 19 ^th July 2021, there's no chance England is going to become an elimination country any time soon. As the only country on earth prepared to leave future covid safety decisions up to the people, we face an uncertain and potentially disastrous future. Right now the experts say we just don't have a high enough percentage of vaccinated people to be safe. The crisis isn’t over. With more transmissible variants on the prowl, and the risk of more emerging thanks to mass infections, countries like the UK risk 'repeating mistakes of the past'.

We can still pivot to an elimination strategy

It's good to know it's never too late to change tack. If we do, the UK could end up healthier, wealthier and more free. All we need to do is overcome the incorrect assumptions those in power keep on making about an elimination strategy damaging civil liberties, economy, and health.

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UVC covid disinfection tech makes England’s controversial ‘Freedom Day’ safer.

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 16:51:28 GMT

Boris Johnson is on track to announce 'Freedom Day' for England on 19 ^th July, moving the country to step 4 of the plan to lift covid restrictions. At the same time England has just experienced the highest number of new infections in four months, mostly thanks to the extra-infectious Delta variant.

There's more. The results of various long term analyses are beginning to filter through, revealing how the countries that adopted a 'zero covid' attitude from the start have fared much better around health, wealth and civil liberties than those that didn’t. The list of those that didn't, of course, includes the UK.

Taken as a whole things are looking messy for Britain, and for England in particular. We're being asked to make up our own minds about how we behave around covid safety, something that could easily end up creating a nation split into two in a new and dangerous way: those who feel safe, and those who don't.

How can business owners deal with a new social split like this? It's going to prove divisive enough for families, but potentially a lot worse if you run a business.

Freedom Day - Creating a dangerous two-tier society

Person A feels perfectly safe not wearing a mask or socially distancing. As far as they're concerned they've had their jabs and are OK to return to normal. Person B has had both their jabs but they're aware there's a small chance they can still catch covid, and still pass it on to other people. Maybe they're looking after an elderly relative at home or have a vulnerable child to keep safe, perhaps they have a compromised immune system. Whatever the reason they're keen to stay socially distant for a while longer, and they want to keep wearing a mask.

So far, so good. It's your own choice from 19 ^th July onwards. But what about work? What happens when an employer insists everyone goes back to the office, with no more working from home? Some people are going to feel fine working in an office in close proximity with others, others are going to find it very difficult to cope with.

How do you keep everyone happy and safe at work after 'Freedom Day', including any visitors you welcome to the premises?

Our brilliant UVC covid disinfection machines help save the day

Roll in one of our splendid UVC LED covid disinfection machines, set it up, leave the room and it switches on, irradiating the space with powerful UV light at exactly the right wavelength. This wavelength damages the virus' DNA and RNA so badly – and quickly – that it can't reproduce.

Maybe you create a timetable where you disinfect each office space three times a day – in the morning, at lunchtime, and at the end of the day. It'll only take a few minutes each time and you'll soon get used to the routine. The people who felt safe in the first place still feel safe, and those who were worried about the remaining risk of catching covid also feel a lot better, with their concerns taken care of in a proven scientific way.

If you're the kind of business that welcomes the public in, for example a dental surgery or a hairdressers, a theatre or a shop, our machines will also help you keep consumers safe.

If you'd like to know more about how to keep people safe after Freedom Day, get in touch. We'll be pleased to show you the tech and explain the science.

'Warnings for England' make our UVC virus killing tech more vital than ever

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 07:00:03 GMT

As we write the world's covid death toll has exceeded 3.95 million, with 182.7 million confirmed cases, although exerts at Johns Hopkins University estimate the true number of cases will be much higher. Our World In Data website says over 1.84 billion people around the globe have had at least one dose of a vaccine. And on 30 ^th June one of the government's science advisors said that England is “on line to repeat the mistakes of last summer”.

Apparently England risks repeating last summer's disastrous wave if the government goes ahead and lifts covid restrictions while infection rates are still too high. In summer 2020 we never really reduced infections enough to deal with the virus. When the schools and universities went back in autumn 2020, and people went back to work, the weather nosedived. We all spent a lot more time indoors, and infections spiked.

In a recent radio interview the UK government advisor Stephen Reicher, from the University of St Andrews, said, “This time round, we should learn from that and we should get infections low to a point where we’re in a much better place in the autumn, where we don’t have to reimpose restrictions.”

The current date for freedom is 19th July, but right now coronavirus cases are rising. Official figures say there were just over 145 cases per 100,000 people in England from 17 ^th to 24th June, up dramatically from just under 94 per 100,000 the week before.

Booster vaccinations should kick off in September

The UK vaccination committee says there needs to be a vaccine booster programme in place from September 2021, in time for winter, designed to maximise protection for those of us who are the most at risk of serious illness. That means immunosuppressed adults, older people in care homes, those over 70, clinically vulnerable adults and frontline health and social care workers should all receive a booster jab before winter sets in. Most younger adults will have had their second jab by the end of summer, so they won't need a booster yet.

What about vaccinations for children?

Adults might be safely vaccinated, but children can catch covid and while it's rare for them to get very ill, they can pass it on to older people, including their teachers, parents and grandparents. But first we need to know the vaccines are 100% safe for the very young. Scientists are currently looking at the data 'very carefully.'

New guidance about when should you have a covid test

Apparently broadening the covid symptoms list could be really useful in identifying more cases and making self-isolation more effective. An article in the British Medical Journal advises people to get a PCR test if they have a high temperature, a new continuous cough and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste. On the other hand the World Health Organization lists 13 symptoms associated with the virus, including a sore throat and headache. As the researchers said, “Most spread is from symptomatic cases around the time of symptom onset, and interrupting transmission depends on early identification and isolation of contagious individuals. The narrow UK case definition therefore limits this detection, restricting the effectiveness of the test, trace and isolate programme.”

The EU's 10 week covid decline ends

While cases have been shooting up in the UK, an impressive ten week decline in infections across Europe has ended. A new wave is on the cards unless “we remain disciplined”, according to the WHO, which has appealed to the EU to get their vaccination skates on to help battle the highly transmissible Delta variant. At the same time Russia is suffering a new Delta wave, and is quickly rolling out booster jabs to help it fight back.

Long covid drags on

6 ^th June saw an estimated 962,000 people experiencing self-reported long covid symptoms for more than a month after their first infection. The UK's Office for National Statistics says it's down a little bit on May's total of 1.02 million. Almost a million people with ongoing symptoms could put an enormous extra strain on the NHS in future.

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All about the delta variant – And how to kill it off

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 12:43:21 GMT

As we write the UK has more Delta cases than the whole of the EU put together. The delta coronavirus variant is estimated to account for more than 98 per cent of all new coronavirus cases in the UK, according to Public Health England. And UK cases of the Delta variant have risen almost four-fold in less than a month. How come we have such a lot of cases, how different are the symptoms, what's the future looking like, and how can we kill the covid Delta variant? Here's some vital insight for you.

Delta and the volume of travellers entering the UK

Delta first made it to the UK when restrictions were being relaxed and the weather was cold, which meant the infection spread faster simply because people were spending more time indoors.

Data from Public Health England reveals the Delta variant was introduced at least 500 different times by travellers entering the UK. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, from the Sanger Institute, says he thinks the real number will end up a lot higher, more like 1000 times.

Imagine just five people infected with Delta arrive in the UK. With a bit of luck none of them would pass it on – there's no hard and fast rule about how many times the virus gets passed on, it's all about individual people's immunity, vulnerability, health, the medicines they're taking, and the setting in which they come across infected travellers – indoors or outdoors, safe or unsafe.

If not just five but 500 infected people entered the UK it's much more likely that several of them will pass on the infection and one or more might be super-spreaders. The difference between five and 500 travellers entering the UK with the Delta variant is bad enough, and the higher, more realistic estimate of 1000 is even worse.

Experts predict Delta will roll across the EU and other countries, including the USA, over the next few weeks. And in nations with lower vaccination rates than the UK, it could prove disastrous. Delta is, after all, considerably more transmissible.

Could Delta's UK take-over have been prevented? Yes. The UK's Civil Aviation Authority says a whopping 42,406 people travelled to and from India during April while Delta raged in India. Simply stopping inward flights would have given the variant much less opportunity to invade.

Back in January 2021 SAGE warned about how, "No intervention, other than a complete, pre-emptive closure of borders, or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival in designated facilities, irrespective of testing history, can get close to fully prevent the importation of cases or new variants.” While

The government put India on the red list on 23 ^rd April, it happened long after the World Health Organization had classified Delta as a variant of interest and long after it was known to be present in the UK. The nation's health authorities, on the other hand, left it a lot later to declare the variant 'of interest'.

On the other hand, unless we close our borders early and more or less permanently, there's no real way to stop unusually infectious new variants getting in. Only when every single human being on the planet has had two jabs will we be anywhere near safe, and that's a very long way off.

Delta's symptoms are a bit different from other variants

A high temperature and a cough have always been common for covid sufferers. A headache and sore throat are less common but still regarded as potential symptoms. A runny nose didn't count at first, with the original and other variants, but it might count for Delta.

This is because the virus is evolving. It might be that the data originally came mostly from hospital patients, who were likely to be more ill. And because there have been higher rates of vaccination – so far – in older people, we're seeing more younger people than ever catching it, who tend to get milder symptoms. But exactly why the symptoms look like they're changing? Nobody knows yet. It makes sense, in the meantime, to be vigilant. If you have a runny nose it could actually be Delta, not just the common cold.

Delta and vaccines

Johnson & Johnson has confirmed that its single-shot covid-19 vaccine generates a 'strong immune response' to the Delta variant which lasts for at least eight months after the vaccination date. Blood sample analyses revealed the vaccine created a stronger immune response to the Delta variant compared to the Beta variant. Early results also suggest the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are 'largely protective' against Delta.

How to kill the Delta variant

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8 crazy covid conspiracy theories and terrible fibs... busted!

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 09:00:12 GMT

We never lift our news from the newspapers, social media or the TV news. They're often blighted by lies and exaggerations. We get our facts from people you can trust, namely New Scientist magazine and FullFact.

The FullFact website is packed with gems of truth designed to disprove the ridiculous and dangerous nonsense that some people are talking about covid. In a crisis like this, in times like this, the truth matters more than ever. Here's some genuine scientific truth for you.

8 terrible covid lies you'll want to ignore

The lie – Covid vaccines have caused 859,481 'adverse reactions', according to the nutty conspiracy theorist Piers Corbyn, who says vaccines have caused over a thousand deaths and nearly a million adverse reactions.

The truth – The true number is a bit less than that, but they haven't all been caused by the vaccine. Those that were caused by the vaccine were 'normal' and cleared up in a few days.

The lie – 3 BA pilots have died because of a covid vaccine.

The truth – There is no evidence the pilots died of the Covid-19 vaccine. Four pilots have recently died, but the deaths were not vaccine-related. Nor had the Danish footballer Christian Eriksen been vaccinated days before getting ill during a match.

The lie – The Pfizer vaccine affects women's fertility.

The truth – While the Pfizer vaccine creates an immune response to a key covid spike protein, it 'almost certainly' can't make your body attack your placenta.

The lie – David Icke is a big fan of this crazy theory, which says a lot. He believes covid RNA vaccines can change your DNA.

The truth – They can't!

The lie – The covid recovery rate is 99%

The truth - Scientists estimate that up to the end of June the real fatality rate in England fell above 0.9%, a number that is significantly higher than some social media posts have been claiming.

The lie – Vaccines make covid worse.

The truth - Countless animal studies, clinical trials, and real data reveal covid vaccines are not causing any antibody dependent enhancement. None of the vaccines we're using make covid worse.

The lie – The UK has the worst death toll in Europe.

The truth – At 25th May 2021 the UK had the 14th worst death toll in Europe, a number arrived at by factoring in the size of the country. While we have seen more deaths than any other country, we also have a larger population than most EU nations. Looking at the numbers this way, we're not the worst in the EU. Not good, but not the worst!

The lie – Covid was planned.

The truth – The genetic make-up of the virus reveals it's incredibly unlikely it was created in a lab. A video on Instagram was seen over 20,000 times but its claims that a second wave was 'planned' are nonsense. In FullFact's words, “There is no evidence that the creation or spread of Covid-19 has at any point been orchestrated by political, commercial or other organisations/institutions.” And there's even less evidence as time passes.

Another big truth for you!

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Covid news round-up

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 14:45:46 GMT

How close is ‘back to normal’?

The worldwide covid death toll has passed 3.9 million, with over 180 million confirmed cases, although experts say the real number of cases will be 'much higher'. Our World In Data says more than 1.76 billion people across the globe have had at least one dose of vaccine. Here's this week's covid news.

How long covid is affecting more people than we thought

New research reveals over 6% of adults in England have had long covid, defined as having 'experienced at least one lingering symptom after an infection with coronavirus'. Imperial College London published the numbers on 24 ^th June, estimating that 2 million of us in England alone are suffering from the condition, and confirming the numbers are a lot higher than previous research has suggested.

Why the difference? The new number comes from extrapolating the results of the REACT-2 study, which has been going on for quite some time. It has used self-reported data from half a million or so people in England who say they've had the virus, and it also reveals how some of us are more likely to have ongoing symptoms than others. It looks like women, smokers and the obese or overweight are all at more risk of long covid

Scientists say England has unusual numbers of long covid cases because we've been so badly affected by several waves of infection. Over 4 million of us have tested positive for covid since testing started, but the real number is likely to be 'far higher as many cases go unconfirmed and testing took months to scale up at the beginning of the pandemic'.

Long covid patients need more care and support than those of us who don't suffer ongoing symptoms. As one of the research team's authors said, “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of covid-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning.”

Have you grabbed your jab yet?

Everyone aged 18 or more is being encouraged to grab a jab right now, and the NHS has extended its capacity to cope with a continuing wave of young people wanting their vaccinations. There are hundreds of drop-in vaccination centres in shopping centres, buses, supermarket car parks, theatres, and football stadiums plus special community vaccinators to visit people's homes.

If you're in the age bracket and live near a vaccine centre, you'll get a text message asking you to turn up for your first dose. You don't even need to be registered with a doctor. So far more than 33% of people aged 18 to 24 have had the jab and officials are delighted with the high turn-out.

The UK Green List expands

One on hand the government is appealing for people to take their holidays at home this year. On the other hand they're opening up more destinations for foreign travel. Fourteen more are on the list, including popular holiday spots like Ibiza, Menorca, Majorca, Formentera, Malta, Madeira, and a few Caribbean islands.

If you head for a country on the Green List you won't have to automatically quarantine when you get home. But you must take a PCR test before you leave and on your first day back home. The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warns things could change quickly, so make sure your booking can be amended just in case you need to change the dates.

Israel insists on masks in enclosed public spaces

Israel has brought face masks back for enclosed public spaces only ten days after they lifted the restriction, thanks to new cases doubling every few days.

Test and trace still not good enough

The actual spending on NHS Test and Trace was £5.7bn up to the end of November 2020, a number that was expected to edge closer to £20 billion by the end of April 2021. The predicted cost up to April 2022 will be the shocking £37 billion that hit the headlines.

Having spent around twenty billion on the system so far, there are still 'significant weaknesses' in its performance in notifying people when they've been in contact with a covid sufferer. The National Audit Office watchdog says turnaround times are poor and the service uses 'too many' consultants.

Less uncertainty means better business

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Covid news…

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 07:15:02 GMT

UK death toll, Tokyo latest, CureVac vaccine and more…

In the UK the summer holiday season is looking just as precarious as ever. We're not sure whether the covid restrictions will stay for another few weeks or a lot longer, and there are hints there's another big wave underway. Elsewhere in the world other countries are struggling to cope with new waves of their own. Here's the latest covid news.

The UK's position in the death toll stakes

This week the death toll stats place the UK at number five again. The worst death toll of all is the USA, second is Brazil, and India is currently the third worst. Mexico follows on from India, leaving the UK with the fifth worst covid death toll in the world, a position we're clearly having difficulty shifting.

Worldwide covid stats

The worldwide death toll has passed 3.84 million
There are 177.5 million confirmed cases right now
Our World In Data says over 1.66 billion people have had at least one dose of a vaccine

New vaccination insight

A new piece of research reveals the risk of catching covid after being vaccinated drops dramatically 21 days after your first dose.

Israel 'lends' doses to Palestine

Israel says it will 'lend' 1 - 1.4 million Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine doses to Palestine to speed up the vaccination process across the West Bank and Gaza. The vaccines would have expired otherwise, which would have been a terrible waste, so it's good news. At the same time Palestine will send the same number of doses back to Israel between September and October, when they get their supplies through from the WHO COVAX scheme.

New German vaccine only has a 47% success rate

The German company CureVac's covid vaccine is, sadly, only 47% effective, or so says a large trial of the new vaccine. The company says more than 50% of the coronavirus cases in the trial were caused by 'variants of concern', not the original variant, which is worrying in itself.

Mandatory vaccination for care home staff

The UK government says vaccinations for care home staff will be mandatory, a decision affecting around 1.5 million people who work in social care in England. Employer and staff organisations are not happy, saying the decision might force people who don't want a vaccination to leave their jobs. At the same time a study suggests people who feel forced to vaccinate are less likely to have their jabs than people who are carefully, gently educated about the benefits. The saying, ' stuck between a rock and a hard place' comes to mind.

Scientists say stop daily contact tests in schools

Scientists are asking the UK government to stop daily contact testing trials English schools. The open letter of appeal was received by the education minister Gavin Williamson and was also published in the British Medical Journal, the respected magazine of the medical sector.

The trials were meant to evaluate the effectiveness of regular lateral flow testing in schools. The hope was the tests could replace ten day isolation for the friends and families of pupils who catch the virus. But the scientists say the risks outweigh their benefits, because lateral flow tests can miss early stage infections so easily. And that means they might even make the spread of the delta variant even worse.

Japanese states of emergency will be lifted for the Olympics

Japan says it'll lift Tokyo's current state of emergency, as well as eight others, for the Olympics. But they'll also maintain social distancing measures, for example keeping spectator numbers low at big events. The games kick off on 23rd July and the Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga is appealing to people to watch the fun on TV at home to help stop the virus spreading.

The uncertainty continues

All this leaves us just as uncertain about the future as ever. Luckily there's one certainty to hang your hat on if your business is affected by the virus. There's no reason to suspect, no matter how many variants arise, that any of them will be able to survive being blasted with beautiful, lethal UVC light. It kills off the worst hospital acquired infections, it makes Ebola harmless, and under the right levels of UV light covid doesn't stand a chance. The latest research proves it yet again .

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The Delta variant spread, plus the latest vaccine immune response news

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 10:16:50 GMT

It looks like a worrying 99% of all UK covid cases are down to the delta variant, and case numbers have shot up over the past week. Public Health England says the number of confirmed delta cases has climbed from 33,630 last week to 75,953 this week. And 18 ^th June saw the WHO confirming that delta is “well on its way to becoming the dominant variant globally”, having long overtaken the alpha variant. The WHO says the delta variant is significantly more infectious, and it is also more likely to see you in hospital than any other variant.

A dramatic rise in delta cases that isn't reflected in hospitalisations

In the week up to 12 ^th June there were around 119,000 people across the UK with covid, a number arrived at thanks to random swab testing by the Office for National Statistics and an increase from 110,000 the week before. We had 11,007 new coronavirus cases on 17th June, and that was the biggest daily increase since the middle of February 2021.

The good news? Thank goodness the rate of hospitalisations isn't rising as quickly as the number of cases, which means a lot of hospitalisations are being prevented by vaccination. But not all. The official recommendation is that if you haven't had your jabs yet, now is the time to have it done, a recommendation borne out by the people who are being hospitalised with the virus at the moment, most of whom haven't been vaccinated.

Disturbing news about natural immunity

We're seeing disturbing news about immunisation. One small study, which was released on 15 ^th June but hasn't been peer reviewed yet, hints that a previous coronavirus infection doesn’t necessarily provide a lasting immune response. This means if you've previously tested positive for the coronavirus you might not be protected against becoming infected again, or at least not for very long.

As Eleanor Barnes at the University of Oxford, one of the authors of the research, said to The Guardian newspaper, “In our view, previous infection does not necessarily protect you long-term from SARS-CoV-2, particularly variants of concern. You shouldn’t depend on it to protect you from subsequent disease, you should be vaccinated.”

The research examined blood samples from 78 healthcare workers who tested positive for the virus from April to June 2020. 66 of them had symptoms and 12 of them had the virus but didn't display any symptoms. The scientists took blood samples every month for six months after the infection, analysing the samples for a range of different immune responses.

Apparently, six months after infection, most of the people studied who'd experienced symptoms had an immune response that could be detected, but more than 25% didn’t. Just under 92% of the non-symptomatic people didn't have any detectable antibodies at all, which means their bodies have no way to neutralise the alpha variant of the coronavirus, the one that was the most common when the study was being done. None of them had detectable levels of antibodies that could neutralise the beta variant either. Because the delta variant didn't exist at the time, the research couldn't analyse people's immunity to it.

The take-aways from the news?

There are two take-aways from this week's news. One, delta is no joke, and it's wise to do everything you can to avoid it. Two, if you haven't been vaccinated yet, whatever your age, please make an appointment as soon as you can, or as quickly as your age group allows.

How likely is a 4th covid wave here? And how about the rest of the world…?

Wed, 16 Jun 2021 07:00:02 GMT

21st June is being billed as ‘Freedom Day’ for England. But the planned lifting of coronavirus restrictions for the big day is looking less certain as time passes, according to prominent scientists. They say a fourth wave is almost upon us. If it arrives we can’t drop the covid restrictions we’ve been under on the planned date.

Monday saw 3383 lab-confirmed cases in the UK, the 6th day in a row where we’ve seen 3000 or more new daily cases. The Indian variant B.1.617.2 – also called the delta variant – is probably at the root of as much as 75% of the new cases, according to health secretary Matt Hancock.

Ravi Gupta from the University of Cambridge, who is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, told the BBC that a delay of just a few weeks will have a significant impact on the country’s war against the virus. He says a temporary delay of a month might well be enough to stop the surge in cases of the new variant.

All this sits against a background where almost 75% of the adult population has had their first jab and almost half have had both. Despite this good news, plenty of people are still vulnerable. According to Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the country remains at risk and nobody should feel the job ‘is done’, because many people have neither had the virus nor been vaccinated against it. At the same time Mark Walport, who used to be chief scientific adviser to the government, says Boris Johnson needs more data before making a final decision.

It’s clear that right now, at this moment in time, the situation is delicately balanced. We have a new, more transmissible variant that we don’t know much about. We’ve seen changes in people’s behaviour after restrictions were relaxed in mid-May, the impact of which will only just be coming through. And while the vaccination programme is a success, plenty of people remain unvaccinated.

Add all this together and the message is clear. While those in power hope there won’t be a fourth wave in England, it isn’t impossible. And we might not be free on 21st June after all.

More covid stories from around the world
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked countries to join the effort to vaccinate 10% of people in every nation by September, and 30% by the end of 2021. So far the global distribution programme has given 72 million vaccine doses to 125 countries, which stacks up to just 1% of their populations. It matters because until everyone on the planet is vaccinated, covid won’t go away.

Dogs are proving their medical worth yet again. Not only can they sniff out cancers, dogs can also smell when someone’s been infected with covid. This could help with accurate airport screening for flights from high-risk countries.

Nine regions of England are set to pilot innovative ways to support people in self-isolation when they’ve tested positive. Ideas include alternative accommodation for people who live in crowded homes. On the down side there’s no recommendation for an increase in financial support.

India’s official covid-19 death toll has passed the 300,000 mark, with surges of infections swamping poor people in the countryside. Case numbers in cities seem to be dropping.

At the end of May the worldwide covid-19 death toll passed 3.47 million. The number of confirmed cases is more than 167.2 million, but experts say the real number is likely to be a lot higher.

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Covid Whac-a-Mole – England’s 4th wave, Vietnam’s new variant, and more.

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 10:23:35 GMT

It looks a lot like England is heading for another covid wave. But is it our third or our fourth? Scientists say it’s the fourth. Apparently there’s a common misconception that the UK has only had two waves of covid, when in reality it has had three so far.

The graphs revealing infections, hospitalisations and deaths all have three peaks. The first wave was in April 2020 and the second hit us in November 2020, both caused by the original virus. The third wave, in January this year, was caused by the Kent variant. So far we’ve had three waves and three lockdowns.

While Europe is currently battling its third wave, mostly caused by the more infectious Kent variant, unless we can take immediate steps to cut the infection rate the Indian variant will cause our fourth wave and our fourth lockdown.

New Vietnam variant causes concern
Vietnam has done very well so far, with just 47 covid deaths. Sadly things are about to change if a new variant of covid gets its way. The news also highlights the fact that while Vietnam feels like a distant country, the Indian variant and the Kent variant both managed to find their way there before merging to form another new variant.

So far we know the new variant spreads quickly through air. It also replicates itself very quickly. It’s actually an Indian variant with ‘mutations that originally belonged to the UK variant’, and almost 3600 people have been infected in 31 of Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces since late April. This already represents over half the country’s total recorded infections. Until 1st April the number sat at just 2617. Now, unless the country can head it off at the pass, infections rates are set to rocket.

China reports alarming new infections
Authorities in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, population 15 million, have seen 20 new covid infections over the last week. It might not seem like a lot but it’s enough to worry officials, who felt they had the virus under control. The spread has been both fast and strong, and infection rates in the city are growing quicker than they did in previous outbreaks. Almost half of them are down to one woman who brought the Indian variant into the city with her.

Residents in the Liwan district will have to stay at home, and markets, child care centres and entertainment venues have all been closed. Dining at indoor restaurants is banned and people in nearby areas have been asked to limit the time they spend outdoors.

More countries experiencing new infections
China and Vietnam are not alone in suffering new cases of the virus. Russia has revealed 9500 new infections over the past 24 hours, and Pakistan has recorded 1771 new confirmed cases. The Philippines’ Department of Health reports 5177 new infections, and Ethiopia registered 196 new cases. India’s total case number rose to 28,175,044 with 127,510 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, but the spike seems to be dropping, with daily case numbers at the lowest level for almost 8 weeks.

Local lockdowns in the UK
Bolton and Bedford have got the Indian variant under control and stemmed a tide of rising cases. Now Blackburn and Darwen have the worst infection rates and the 21st June ‘Freedom Day’ is at risk of delay.

What does all this mean for the future?
It’s clear that new variants haven’t stopped emerging. The Vietnam one is particularly worrying. It’s also clear that nations who fought a good fight against the virus in the early days, with minimal deaths, are just as vulnerable to new waves as countries like the UK, which haven’t done well. If the experts are right about the UK being on the brink of a new wave we could see local lockdowns emerging soon, if not more national ones.

At a time like this, you need to be able to protect your business and employees while looking after the people who engage with your company. Our innovative, proven UVC covid disinfection machines do exactly that.

Covid News

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 14:19:11 GMT

Cases rise again in England – Is a 4th wave on the way?

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water... it’s sad to see England’s case numbers increasing again after the public has worked so hard to keep things under control. So what’s the story?

The latest results from a random swab testing survey by the Office for National Statistics reveals a rise in cases, the first in five weeks. On the bright side rates remain low. One in 1110 people in England had covid-19 in the week up to 15th May, an increase over one in 1340 people the week before. England’s R number has also gone up a bit, now standing at between 0.9 and 1.1 compared to 0.8 to 1.1 in the previous week.

As a whole the UK revealed its highest daily increase in covid-19 infections in a month on 20th May, when 2874 new cases were confirmed. We’re also seeing clusters of the so-called Indian variant B.1.617.2 which are, according to New Scientist magazine, ‘growing rapidly’.

Public Health England says cases caused by the Indian strain have risen to 3424, up from 1313 last week. Andrew Hayward at University College London says this means the Indian strain can ‘circulate very effectively’. As a member of the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, SAGE, he also predicts the UK may be about to enter a fourth wave, as do many other experts in the EU and at home. Yet again, we could be in for a rocky ride.

At the same time a £2.6m government funded test project aims to deal with Covid transmission among low paid workers in areas where rates are still high. The idea is to give people who need to self-isolate the support they need. Those living in the north west of England, an area that suffers from more unemployment and economic equality than most, have been tipped as more likely to suffer from the overall impact of the pandemic. And GPs who have caught the virus, and are unable to work because of Long Covid symptoms, are demanding ‘fair compensation’ via their Unions.

New Long Covid stats
Apparently about one in seven people who catch the virus end up with Long Covid symptoms, and younger, healthier people are at more risk of Long Covid than anyone else. In the USA a study looked at almost 267,000 adults who had Covid between January and October 2020 and had received a diagnosis of one of 50 conditions six months after testing positive. 14% of them had at least one symptom from the list, which included chronic respiratory failure, heart rhythm problems, diabetes, anxiety, fatigue and memory loss.

The numbers tally with other studies, which show that almost one in seven UK residents testing positive for Covid are still suffering symptoms three months later. The study carefully compared the survivors of covid against the general population and those with another respiratory condition, for example a cold, revealing how people who had suffered from Covid were ‘more at risk of ongoing health issues’ than people in the other groups.

African death rates are above the global average
It’s sad to see average death rates in critically ill covid patients falling above the global average in ten African countries. The research was published in The Lancet and analysed data from more than 3000 patients across 64 hospitals. It looks like 48.2 per cent of critically ill covid-19 patients in the 10 African nations died within 30 days of being admitted to hospital, compared to the global average of 31.5%.

Spain lets Brits in for holidays
Spain is removing covid restrictions for Brits travelling from the UK. Tourists won’t need a negative PCR test for coronavirus before they’ll be allowed in, but the UK government is advising against non-essential travel to Spain along with most other countries in the EU. If you’re returning home from Spain you still need to self-quarantine when you get back.

The latest on Oxford/AstraZeneca safety
The EU’s medicine regulator says those who develop blood clots with low platelets after their first Oxford/AstraZeneca dose should not have a second jab of the same vaccine.

Japan’s medical system is in deep trouble
Japan is suffering a ‘medical system collapse’ thanks to a new fourth wave blamed on the Kent variant. Hospitals and running out of beds and ventilators, and medical staff are exhausted. Officials are saying that the Olympics ‘must’ be cancelled.

Down Under, Melbourne suffers a potential outbreak
Australia has done comparatively well at keeping covid under control, but now there’s a potential outbreak in Melbourne with four new cases identified after three months of no cases at all.

And what does all this mean to your business?
We are not out of the woods. We could easily face another lockdown thanks to a post-summer fourth wave. And there’s no time like the present where covid disinfection is concerned. Our machines could prove the best investment you ever make. Let’s talk UVC!

UVC LED Covid disinfection – More science from around the world

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 14:18:36 GMT

It’s good to see more developments in UVC LED covid disinfection technologies around the world. It proves yet again that our tech is extremely effective, very efficient, and provides a way out for many public-facing businesses whose future has so far felt a lot less than certain.

News from USA – Bolb Inc’s High Power UVC LED Array
As reported by PR Newswire, over in California a company called Bolb Inc. has revealed how UVC LED tech results in a 99.95% inactivation of airborne virus and bacteria at 3,000 Litres a minute, a flow rate monitored independently by a third party lab. This highlights how UVC light is an excellent ‘universal, future-proof and chemical free’ way to combat mutating threats like covid.

The tests were performed on aerosolised human coronavirus, a single-strand RNA virus widely recognised as similar enough to covid for the purpose, plus the aerosolized bacteria Staph aureus ATCC 6538. The testing took place in an enclosed air disinfection context and the test revealed a single-pass disinfection efficiency of 99.96%. Another test for air disinfection demonstrated as much as 99.95% inactivation against the viral aerosol in a 30 m3 volume over an hour.

Bolb’s UVC LEDs had previously been tested and found to achieve 99.999% inactivation of pathogens like SARS-Cov-2 and MRSA for surface and water disinfection applications. Again the tests were done independently, this time in Minnesota, at the University of California at Berkeley, and at China’s Guangzhou Institute of Microbiology.

It’s good to see Bolb’s technology is capable of delivering clean, safe air for healthcare workers and their patients, restaurants, shops, offices, public transport and more. Bolb is currently seeking partnerships and collaborations with relevant industries, eventually aiming to roll the technology out globally.

UVC used to destroy PCBs as well as pathogens
In Florida, patented UV technology by Violet Defense is about to be used to destroy PCBs and ‘other persistent toxins’ from water, via a partnership with ecoSPEARS’ ecoCube clean water technology.

PCBs or Polychlorinated biphenyls are one of the world’s nastiest contaminants. The new tech has been designed to use an Advanced Oxidation Processes to destroy PCBs in groundwater, storm water, and waste water. With luck the system will resolve many common problems associated with traditional water decontamination.

While UV light has been used to disinfect water for a long time, the UV lenses and quartz protection sleeves fitted in current tech get dirty over time and work less well. The new patented technology puts a specialised UV transmissive lens in direct contact with the UV light source and it doesn’t get dirty or degrade over time.

Meanwhile in Chandigarh, India...
According to the Tribune India, the country’s Central Scientific Instruments Organisation has developed a UV disinfection system for air conditioning and ventilation ducts. The tech can be used in auditoriums, large conference rooms, classrooms, shopping malls and other public places to provide a ‘relatively safer’ environment for indoor activities during the pandemic.

In their experience UV light deactivates more than 99% of viruses, bacteria, fungus and other nasty bio-aerosols, as long as the right dosage of UV light is used. It matters because airborne transmission is a major risk indoors. The findings tap into 2020 research by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Microbial Technology, which detected covid particles in the air as long as two hours after infected people left the room, spreading a distance of much more than just a few metres.

The challenge is to fit the tech with minimal intervention in the air ducts of existing HVAC systems in indoor industrial and commercial environments. So far it looks like the CSIO system could be a good retrofit solution, simple to add to current systems with a low initial set-up cost.

Jenton Group produces a wall-mounted UV air disinfection unit
In the UK the Express and Star reports on the Jenton Group, which has struck a deal with a manufacturing outsourcing specialist to make 100 units of its GRU-V, a wall-mounted UV air disinfection machine that exposes ducted air to UV light. This disinfects more than 99.99% of the covid virus in air, in workplaces as well as residential, commercial, healthcare, medical and education contexts.

Science is on our side
If you’d like to explore the virus-killing potential of our brilliant UVC covid disinfection machines, get in touch for clear explanations supported by science, and a warm welcome from people you can trust.

How to virus proof buildings…

Wed, 26 May 2021 09:15:02 GMT

An appeal for covid-aware engineering.

Could the covid virus merge with another virus to cause an even worse threat? Yes, it could. Could covid gradually evolve to become less threatening, like the four main coronaviruses that cause the common cold? Yes, it could. And there's the problem – this thing could go either way, and it could just as easily go neither way. The best thing we can do in uncertain times like this? Keep an eye on the science and prepare to act quickly when we need to.

Part of 'acting quickly' involves being prepared, and being prepared involves tweaking the design of the buildings we all use. Right now buildings are not designed with virus prevention in mind. But in the opinion of increasing numbers of experts, this must change.

The journal 'Science' contains an article that was originally reported in the LA Times. In it, 39 experts of different kinds demanded a 'paradigm shift' in building design and ventilation systems. The report reveals to international health authorities how the coronavirus spreads through microscopic particles known as aerosols that spread through the air, and it's clear that the biggest risk of covid spreading is indoors. New buildings are not designed to stop viruses spreading. In fact modern tower block offices and other commercial buildings are usually engineered to save energy and make sure the temperature is right. Public health doesn't come into it... yet.

It's good to know that many of the technologies mentioned in the article already exist. On the downside, so far they haven't been used in a 'targeted effort' to cut the spread of diseases. The scientists behind the article recommend future buildings are designed to include systems to detect the times when a crowd develops, instantly adjusting the ventilation to increase the turn-over of fresh air. They also suggest fitting air monitors as standard, to display air quality in real time.

What about the cost? Apparently estimates suggest the required systems would push up the building cost by less than one percent, an extra cost that will be more than offset by preventing diseases like viruses from spreading in the first place. When an everyday outbreak of influenza can have a dramatic effect on a company's profits, it makes a lot of sense. In a pandemic it's a no-brainer.

So the cost of infections can be massive, but at the same time the price of preventing infections is relatively low. All the same, the authors of the report predict such measures will be 'met with resistance from building developers, owners and operators'. Why?

One issue might be the extra energy needed to heat and cool larger amounts of air, pushing it through high-grade filters and bigger fans. Could this affect efforts to combat climate change? It could, but as one expert said the pandemic makes this the perfect time to figure out how to balance the equation. This is no time to revert to business as usual when it's entirely possible for architects and engineers to solve the problem, perhaps by switching systems between energy saving and disease prevention as and when required.

While early results were not conclusive, it's now totally clear that covid spreads through aerosol particles. If we'd known earlier the world could have saved countless lives, but it is what it is. In the past health authorities have been reluctant to accept the theory of transmission via aerosols, but have gladly accepted the theory that spread takes place via larger droplets. In fact inhaling aerosols is the 'dominant route of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses'. It took an open letter to the WHO signed by 239 experts from 32 countries before they accepted that covid was indeed spread via aerosol particles, but even then they reacted slowly.

According to one scientist the WHO is still not going far enough, focusing on most transmissions occurring within one metre or three feet. Nor do they have any standards in place for controlling the spread of respiratory viruses inside buildings.

Building owners currently face the potentially expensive and often confusing task of disinfecting their premises against covid. The list of requirements is still increasing, along with the existing climate change deadlines and fire control, and some fear they'll reject any extra safety measures added on top of all that. At the same time increasing numbers of building owners are disinfecting their buildings using UVC tech like ours, which is affordable and extremely efficient as well as highly effective and safe.

Will building design fall into line when future pandemics are not just a threat but a certainty? Let's hope so. In the meantime, you need our UVC disinfection machines!

How the Indian covid variant could create yet another round of uncertainty

Mon, 24 May 2021 09:15:27 GMT

There's no predicting the future, of course, but a basic level of certainty is what keeps business alive and kicking. Today the government has announced the relaxation of the covid rules for England, and changes are also being announced for Wales and Scotland. At the same time, not long ago, Boris Johnson said another wave is more or less a certainty. And now he says the final relaxation to the rules, due on 21st June, might be delayed by the new B.1.617.2 Indian strain of the covid virus. In his words, “I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June.”

So what's the new Indian strain of covid like, what's the risk of another lockdown, and how can you bring back a level of confidence to your business in a landscape that's still looking a very long way from certain?
As usual we've gone in search of the science rather than taking the media's word for it!

How real is the threat from the Indian covid strain
In a world where false news is all too common, it's helpful to get a proper, science-led view of things. In the words of a New Scientist magazine article on the Indian variant:

“Evidence suggests that the B.1.617.2 variant is more transmissible than the so-called Kent variant that is widespread in the UK, chief medical officer Chris Whitty said, but it is not clear by how much. The UK could face another devastating wave of covid-19 if it fails to contain the spread of the Indian variant, according to modelling done by the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). The wave could be as big as the one in January, which at its peak was seeing over 50,000 new infections every day.”

About the Indian variant and its sub-variants
There are two sub-variants of B.1.617 worth mentioning. The most worrying is called B.1.617.2, detected for the first time last December. It was rare until March, when it took off like a rocket and fast became the dominant variant in India. Then it escaped to infect many other countries including the UK. Now, in the UK, it's more common than B.1.1.7 even though the total number of cases is still low. There's no sign that the B.1.617.2 variant is any deadlier or has different symptoms, and nobody's 100% sure yet whether vaccines are less effective against it.

The second notable sub-variant, B.1.617.1, was also found in December last year in India, and it still only accounts for very few cases around the world. This is the one they're calling the Indian double mutant but in fact it comes with 15 mutations, two of which are very worrying. They're called L452R and E484Q, and they just might make antibodies to older variants and existing vaccines less effective. The jury remains out.

It's interesting that some B.1.617.1 viruses come with an extra mutation called V382L in their spike protein, which is what scientists mean when they talk about triple mutants. It sounds scary but the same mutation has also been found elsewhere and there's no sign that triple mutant viruses either spread faster or are any more deadly. In India itself the situation varies between states. The B.1.1.7, the P.1 variant from Brazil and the B.1.351 variant from South Africa have all played a role in the current Indian covid crisis.

How long is this going to go on?
Because it's impossible to second guess the virus and its variants, businesses all over the world are still facing ongoing uncertainty. This has been going on since March last year when the first lockdown was imposed. That's a year and two months of not really knowing whether you'll be open next week, next month, or in six months' time. And that makes business planning seriously challenging, from knowing how much cash you need to keep going if there's another lockdown to seasonal planning, stock, materials, staffing and more. Even planning a few weeks ahead remains tricky. The answer to the question, 'when will we be free of covid' is no clearer than it has ever been.

Let's talk UVC covid disinfection
Certainty mean a great deal in times like this, which is why our affordable covid disinfection technology is becoming so popular. It takes no time to disinfect an average sized room, it's powerful, safe and effective, and means you have choices. If you'd like to discuss the potential, get in touch.

Applying UVC light to ‘common disinfectants’ – New research

Thu, 13 May 2021 07:00:03 GMT

A new piece of scientific research from the University of Waterloo in Canada hints that more than 400 common disinfectants currently in use could be made a lot safer for people and the environment thanks to a 'simple application' of UV light. They also claim the finding could help humanity fight the COVID-19 virus more effectively. So what's the story?

All about BAK
Apparently Benzalkonium Chloride, also called BAK, is the commonest active ingredient the disinfectants frequently used to clean hospitals, homes and food processing plants. They help protect us against all sorts of different viruses and bacteria, including covid, but it is such a horribly toxic substance that it can only be safely used in low concentrations. This also means cleaning products that contain BAK are very harmful to humans as well as dreadful for the environment, particularly dangerous to birds and to creatures who live in water.

What the Waterloo team discovered
The Canadian team discovered the chemical's toxicity can be neutralised using ultraviolet light, as revealed by tests on cultured human corneal cells that are found naturally in the human eye. The results showed how a disinfecting procedure using BAK followed by UVC radiation can minimise the harmful effect of BAK residues on humans and the environment.

As Dr. David McCanna of the university's Department of Optometry & Vision Science said, , “Such a procedure also has a great potential to maximize the disinfection efficacy by utilizing two different antimicrobial mechanisms. As the pandemic continues, our findings are especially important as it provides another method to make our hospitals, food, homes, and the environment safer."

The research
BAK is what makes many disinfectants work. But it also irritates human eyes and skin very badly. The chemical's high toxicity means products containing it can't include very much of it, which in turn limits their disinfecting power.

The team exposed a BAK solution to germicidal ultraviolet-C lamps not unlike ours, which are already used in healthcare, food, water treatment and other settings. They applied the resulting solution to cultured human corneal cells for five minutes. Then they analysed the samples for cell metabolic activity and viability.

Amazingly the BAK solutions were 'completely neutralised' by UVC, to an extent that they were no longer harmful to the cells. And even more amazingly, even though the BAK's toxicity was 'fully neutralised', the BAK worked just as well as it did before it was neutralised. The only thing that changed was its actual toxicity.

There's a great deal of pressure on businesses to improve their standard disinfection procedures, but it's also vital to keep an eye on any negative environmental impacts. This research is very good news when there are so many concerns about using products containing a lot of BAK, and people are using more of these products than ever before.

Proven covid disinfection UVC technology
It's good to see UVC light playing another important part in the human race's battle against the pandemic.
If you'd like to talk through the benefits of our UVC machines, get in touch for a fascinating discussion that could even prove to be a business-saver.

‘Which’ warns against dangerous UV light disinfection devices.

Mon, 10 May 2021 13:25:26 GMT

Experts are saying that the UVC LED market could reach a total value of $2.5 billion by 2025. And no wonder when the right wavelength of this powerful type of light kills off incredibly dangerous viruses like Ebola, SARS and MERS with ease, as well as hospital acquired infections and Covid itself.

On the other hand a load of unscrupulous businesses are busy releasing hand-held wands, lamps and other gadgets that they claim can be used to kill covid. While some of them probably work, many don’t.
And plenty come with serious potential health problems for the people using them.

UVC light is the the most harmful kind of UV radiation, already widely used for decades to disinfect hospitals, factories and water treatment plants in a very specific way, using proven technology that comes with all the right safety features and clear instructions for safe use.

If you’ve been tempted to buy a home UV light steriliser online, pleased make sure you are 100% certain it’s safe and make sure you follow the instructions to the letter. On the other hand it might be better to avoid these gadgets altogether.

Here’s some news about the latest warnings coming out about these less-than-satisfactory gadgets, this time from the respected British consumer organisation, Which.

‘Which’ says you need to think twice
According to Which , many of these gadgets are not worth buying, don’t do what they claim to do, or could even be potentially dangerous. In their words, “UVC products are increasingly cropping up on online marketplaces and in high street shops, but they are largely unnecessary, and some have been found to be ineffective or even unsafe.”

The Lighting Industry Association (LIA) has been looking at these UVC devices along with Public Health England and the OPSS, and they’ve been reporting dangerous or faulty devices found on the market.
Their findings clearly show it’s ‘hard to know what you’re getting’ when you buy one of these devices.
Some of them don’t emit any UVC at all, or hardly any. Some emit UVC but do it in a dangerous way without the necessary safety features. Some have no instructions, insufficient instructions, or instructions that it’s impossible to understand. And some recommend disinfection times that are far too short.

Which says:

Room lamps – It’s better to open a window and let the fresh air in than use a UVC room lamp
Wands – Avoid hand-held wands. Many come with poorly written instructions or none at all. The light isn’t usually enclosed so it’s very dangerous, and a quick waft with a wand isn’t likely to do the job anyway – at best ineffective, at worst dangerous
Sterilisation bags and boxes are ‘unlikely to be necessary’, not worth the bother when surfaces are not the main way covid spreads. Particles from people breathing, talking, singing and shouting are the main ways the virus is passed on
UVC fridges, tumble driers and so on – OK for ‘peace of mind’ but ordinary, everyday hygiene methods are sufficient

Which’s findings have been widely reported in the media, online and offline, including The Independent and The Daily Mail.

Our UVC machines are super-safe
Experts don’t recommend using the current flurry of cheap UVC disinfection tech in the home. But for a business with members of the public visiting, with people constantly in and out, the right UVC technology is incredibly useful.

Our commercial UVC disinfection machines come with all the safety features you could possibly need, plus detailed instructions backed by rock solid science. They work, and they work very well indeed. If you run a theatre or cinema, dental practice, doctor’s surgery or school, a shop or anywhere else with a constant flow of human traffic, it’s a great way to help stop the spread of covid, keep people safe, and keep your business open.

The latest covid vaccine news…

Fri, 07 May 2021 07:30:02 GMT

Vaccines, infection numbers and more.

There’s still so much we don’t know about covid itself, the vaccines, and the variants. We don’t yet know, for example, whether having covid and recovering from it makes you immune in the long term. But we do know that a single dose of Pfizer vaccine might not give us enough of an immune response to fight any new and dangerous covid variants.

Most vaccinated people in the UK have had their first dose but not their second. This might not deliver a good enough immune response against new variants when you haven’t already caught and recovered from covid. So says Danny Altmann at Imperial College London. He and his team investigated samples from healthcare workers in the UK who’d either had one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, had already been infected, or both. The results were an eye-opener. Apparently people who had previously suffered a mild or asymptomatic infection had a better neutralising antibody response against the new B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants after just the one jab, compared to people who had never caught covid but had a single jab.

What does this mean? Those of us who’ve had our first jab but have never been infected might not be as well protected against these and other new variants. It’s worrying because most of the vaccinated people in the UK so far have had just the one dose. And because more new variants are always a possibility. As a result of all this, it’s more important than ever that we all get our second jabs as soon as possible.

Falling infections in the UK
It’s good to know that England’s covid infection rate has dropped for the third week in a row, and it’s great news. At the same time it’s vital to keep on monitoring infections, since it’s still too early to tell whether easing the current lockdown has already resulted in the potential for a surge. And more new variants are always a possibility.

Rare blood clotting disorders remain very rare
29th April saw officials from the UK medicines regulator revealing data about a rare blood clotting disorder in people who’ve had the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. So far there’s been 23 cases in people between 18 – 29 years old, 27 cases in the 30 – 39 age range, 30 in the 40 – 49 range and 59 cases in people who are 50 – 59. People aged 60 or over have seen 58 cases. The total so far is 209 cases and 41 deaths out of around 22 million of us. The numbers are statistically tiny, and the fact remains that having a jab is much less risky to your health than not having it.

40 plus? It’s time for your jab!
At the moment everyone in England aged over 40 is being asked to book jabs. So far over 34 million of us have had our first one, and 14 million of us have had both jabs – that’s about 20% of us in total.

The covid deaths league table – Top 5 worst death tolls
At 30th April 2021 these were the worst countries in the world for covid deaths:

1. USA – the worst of all
2. Brazil
3. Mexico
4. India
5. UK

The worldwide total covid death toll stands at more than 3.16 million. Confirmed cases so far add up to more than 150 million, but that’s probably much lower than the real number. Our World In Data reckons over 587 million people across the world have had at least one jab.

When will the pandemic end?
Optimists are saying the end of 2021 should also usher in an end to the pandemic, or at least an end to the mass lockdowns and surges we’ve been suffering. Others say it could be another year, at least, until we can rely on any kind of longer term return to ‘normal’. Some believe we’ll be battling this virus for a decade or more as it pops up, dies back and pops up again – just like the flu.

Whatever your views, whoever you prefer to believe, we’re not out of the woods yet. For a decent level of business certainty you need one of our UVC covid disinfection machines. Only then can you be confident about consumer safety, keep your employees properly protected, and enjoy a level of future-proofing that your business could never otherwise achieve, even more than a year down the line.

Shall we talk?

Lessons from India's covid crisis…

Tue, 04 May 2021 15:06:22 GMT

Plus the threat of another UK wave.

The Covid crisis in India is ramping up. Officials say it’s set to get worse before it gets better. Experts say India’s experiences serve as a horrible warning that covid-19 complacency is disastrous. At the same time the threat of a new autumn wave in the UK is fading. Here’s the latest covid news.

India’s terrible covid experiences teach us all a lesson
India has set an undesirable new record after yet another day breaks records for the most daily coronavirus cases reported in any country on the planet. If you’ve seen the news stories showing people dying on the streets, lining up in their thousands outside hospitals, suffering from a national shortage of oxygen and running out of wood for funeral pyres, you’ll know just how distressing it is.

Could the same happen in the UK? Yes, of course it could. All it would take is a dangerous new variant or an unchecked surge and our hospitals could also be over-run. But, at this stage in the game, it can only happen if we get complacent.

So what’s going on in India? And are we really due another surge this autumn?

Why is India suffering from the world’s biggest covid outbreak?
On 4th May the Indian covid case rate soared to 20 million. Why is India suffering so much? The short answer is, nobody really understands why covid has become so rampant in India.

It is fast becoming clear than every country on earth has been under-reporting the number of infections. Scientists say the number of new daily cases in India could be a lot higher than the 350,000 being reported, and that’s a massive difference.

Some reports hint that the death toll could also be a great deal worse than officials believe, maybe as much as 10 times higher. When you add the fact that India has only two critical care beds per 100,000 people, compared with 34 per hundred thousand in the USA, and it’s no wonder India’s health care system is collapsing.

Just a couple of months ago the country looked like it had almost beaten covid. How did India manage to avoid such a huge surge for so long? Some experts say India’s disastrous experience is down to scary new variants, others blame it on covid restrictions being relaxed, or on the population of India being careless, or on the huge political rallies and religious festivals that have gone ahead despite the danger. Others say the vaccine protocols in India have been mismanaged, leaving less than 9% of all Indians having at least one dose. The real story is probably multi-factoral.

The case numbers in India began to increase in February, which should have been a clear warning signal. But, like the UK, India’s politicians ‘failed to grasp’ what happens when exponential growth goes wild and nobody does enough about it. The situation just goes to show how very fast things can go wrong once the delicate balance starts to tip. India is what can happen when politicians don’t properly understand the implications of ‘exponential growth’.

New predictions for a third UK wave this autumn
Not so long ago Boris Johnson said a third wave in the UK was ‘probable’. Now, thankfully, scientists believe the risk might be reducing. Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London says the current data is ‘very encouraging’, with the nation back on track for ‘returning to life’ by the summer.

On the other hand while cases are plateauing right now, things could easily start to go the other way. With luck all we’ll see is a small increase in cases and deaths later this year. But Professor Ferguson also says his team remains ‘concerned’ about what will happen in late summer and early autumn – which, if there’s going to be a surge, is when it’ll happen.

At the same time vaccine performance is looking even more encouraging. The latest data says if you get infected after being vaccinated, you’re a lot less infectious than you would be without a vaccination.

The message from the professionals?
Scientists say we need to remain wary and stay careful if we want to avoid becoming another India and want to swerve a covid surge in the autumn. Experts are insisting that social distancing needs to stay in place even if the numbers keep falling. With things remaining on a knife edge, it makes a great deal of sense to take the same amount of care we’re used to taking, keeping a very careful eye on new case levels and acting instantly if things start to go slide.

The latest covid news from around the world – And why it matters

Sun, 02 May 2021 10:00:02 GMT

We’re tracking the ebb and flow of covid as it surges around the world, dies back, then surges again.
This week there’s all sorts of news, good and bad, about the virus that’s still changing our lives more than a
year after the UK first locked down. While it feels fantastic to be edging back towards a kind of normality in the UK, other nations aren’t faring very well. It matters to us here in the UK because until every country on the planet has beaten covid back sufficiently, we’ll still be at risk from visitors. And the more people the virus infects, the more risk there is of more dangerous variants emerging.

On the bright side, however dangerous the virus’ potential variants become, our UVC technology is highly likely to be able to kill it off in the same way it kills off horrors like Ebola, MERS, SAS, and hospital acquired infections like MRSA.

Thank you to New Scientist magazine for the news.

Worldwide covid death toll passes the 3 million mark
According to Johns Hopkins University in the USA, 3.08 million of us have died of covid across the world and we’ve seen over 144.9 million confirmed cases so far. But they say the real number is probably ‘much
higher’. So far, worldwide, more than 534 million people have had at least one jab.

Dodgy information about smokers and covid is withdrawn
We need to be wary of junk science. If you’ve heard the news that smokers are 23% less likely to get covid than people who don’t smoke, it’s nonsense. The study was recently withdrawn by the European
Respiratory Journal, where it was first published, when it turned out two of the authors had undeclared links with the tobacco industry and hadn’t bothered to disclose the conflict of interest.

More ad hoc lockdowns down under
Australia has announced a three day lockdown in Perth and the Peel region. The one person responsible for the new lockdown had travelled widely in the region, having originally been quarantined in a hotel and
tested negative. Five days later another test showed them to be positive.

Covid, Japan and the Olympics
Japan is about to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto in an effort to stop a sudden rise in cases before the 2021 Olympics. If the Olympics are actually going to go ahead in July, Japan must bring
infections under control by late May. So far they’ve had more success limiting the spread than many other countries. Japan has suffered about 550,000 cases and 10,000 deaths, compared with 4.4 million cases and
130,000 deaths in the UK. At the moment they’re seeing 36 cases per million people every day, against 37 per million in the UK, 200 in India, 250 in Germany and 700 in Turkey. But Japan is also seeing new variants spreading despite local restrictions.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines are better than anyone hoped
Just one dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine cuts the risk of infection by 66%, according to the latest analysis of test results from 350,000 people in the UK. 21 days after their first jab
people were 57% less likely to catch an asymptomatic infections and over 70% less at risk of ‘symptomatic infections’ compared with people who hadn’t had a jab.

At the same time it looks like just 32 people were admitted to hospital with covid more than three weeks after getting at least one jab of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines. And it’s great to know
covid isn’t the leading cause of death in England and Wales any more, with the virus causing just 9% of deaths across both nations and case numbers falling fast in England.

India in crisis
At the moment India is in a crisis, with well over 300,000 new cases a day being recorded. This is a new
global record and it means the virus has an excellent opportunity to create new variants. Oxygen supplies are running out and there are distressing scenes on TV revealing mass funerals and people waiting
outside hospitals. The true number of cases could be 20 - 30 times higher, with as many as 9 million people a day in India being infected.

US demand for vaccinations falls
Against a background of impressive Biden-led vaccine success, some of the USA’s biggest vaccination sites are closing down because of a lack of demand. Over half of US adults have had at least one jab, but officials are saying that delivering the next 25% will be “a lot harder.”

Keeping up the good work
Have you taken a look at our UVC LED covid disinfection technology yet? If you run a business it provides an excellent way to clean the air and surfaces within a short timescale, messing with the virus’ DNA and RNA
so it can’t reproduce. Our tech is fast and efficient, and it’s proving a highly effective business saver.

The hidden mental health risks behind a return to work

Sat, 01 May 2021 10:00:02 GMT

Some people can’t wait to return to work. Others are dreading it. Post-lockdown anxiety is a big thing, partly triggered by a dread of sharing indoor space, socialising with others, sharing car journeys to work and travelling on crowded public transport. At the same time not being at work has caused plenty of mental suffering, too.

A piece of UK research that tracked the mental health of 53,000 people before the pandemic and into the first lockdown revealed a huge and worryingly fast increase in mental distress for those aged 16 and over. Now, despite a slight improvement in anxiety levels over the past year, they remain ‘significantly worse’ than before the pandemic.

The UK’s Office for National Statistics says there’s a stronger effect in people from lower socio-economic groups, and BUPA says it has seen twice as many calls to direct access mental health services compared to 2018.

While lockdowns end, the stress doesn’t. When Anxiety UK quizzed 900 people they discovered that, out of the people feeling anxious about restrictions being listed, 46% said the pressure to socialise was their biggest worry. 23% said they were most worried about public transport and 20% were dreading having to go back to work. And 23% said they feared they were going to be forced back to the office before they felt safe.

Does working from home automatically preserve mental health?
Working from home isn’t always the solution. A Canadian team has been examining people working in different environments through 2020. They discovered anxiety and depression were lower for people working remotely than for those still working on site or people who had lost their jobs altogether. But when the workplace had adequate infection control schemes, on-site workers proved the least anxious of all.

The research behind returning to work
Going back to work could help get rid of the stress-led brain fog many of us have suffered thanks to social isolation and loneliness. In fact research shows how loneliness – which has grown in England, Wales and Scotland since April 2020 – is just as bad for your health as smoking or a lack of exercise, bringing actual physical changes in the brain that affect our memory, cognitive function, and emotional regulation.

Office work naturally involves social interaction, which should have a positive impact on office workers’ well-being. Some research suggests interacting online and over the phone is just as psychologically positive as meeting people face-to-face, cutting back anxiety and depression and boosting happiness, but other studies say only ‘meaningful face-to-face interaction’ with a few other people is the real key to our happiness. This makes sense when you take into account the fact that the mirror neurones in our brains can only mirror the expressions and body language of the people we can see, so phone conversations are never going to be ideal.

Increased social touching, things like shaking hands and hugging, also boost our well-being by activating the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex to give us feelings of compassion as well as reward. It builds trust, increases our tolerance to pain, and releases endorphins and oxytocin to make us feel good and protect us from stress.

What to do if you’re worried about going back to work
If you’re feeling worried about going back to working the normal way, BUPA’s Health Clinics medical director says the best ways to feel better are to practice mindfulness, get lots of exercise, and enjoy plenty of quality downtime away from work.

We would add one more crucial thing – ask your employer what their plans are for keeping you all safe at work. Have they considered investing in a UVC Covid disinfection machine to clean the air regularly and keep the workplace safer? If not, what else are they planning to do? Here’s a link to our post about how to make your office safer from covid.

The science bit – The latest UVC light research is proving our point

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:52:10 GMT

Right now there are plenty of fascinating stories emerging about the power of UVC light for covid disinfection. Here are the details.

UVC Research from Nevada, USA
The University of Nevada Reno has carried out extensive virology laboratory testing of ultraviolet-C (UVC) light. The results show that sterilisation of a human coronavirus in the covid family takes less than
eight seconds at a distance of five feet. Now they've developed a patented technology that blends the highest power UVC LED diodes with 'unique optical lenses' to 'intensify and project' UVC rays.

As the scientists involved said, “UVC-LED sanitization unit demonstrated complete virus inactivation under all the tested conditions. These results confirmed that the UVC-LED disinfection system can provide
rapid, reliable, safe, and complete inactivation of human coronavirus from surfaces... within 8 seconds at 5 feet distance.”

(source: https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2021/uvc-test-on-coronavirus )

UK research explores small far UVC devices
In 2020 Dr Andrew Buchan and Dr Liang Yang looked into ‘Predicting airborne coronavirus inactivation by far-UVC in populated rooms using a high-fidelity coupled radiation-CFD model’, examining the potential of
far-UVC in disinfecting indoor airflow.

They wanted to look at virus inactivation in occupied rooms using a simple far-UVC lamp, and encountered problems. The air flow in a room is extremely dynamic and complicated, with particles being transported in
many different ways. A simple lamp provides varying levels of intensity depending on its distance from the virus particles and the shadows inevitably cast by furniture in a room. This means a lamp's position
impacts the amount of virus inactivation it can achieve.

In future the researchers believe there might be a way to harness extremely simple far-UVC technologies the size of lightbulbs, which don't need any extra shielding but can be safely used when people are
present. They say this could be vital in the early days of a pandemic when vaccines haven't been developed. For now the team plans to look deeper into the matter using computer simulations.

(source: https://www.healtheuropa.eu/uvc-disinfection-in-indoor-spaces/107502/ )

Mumbai banks and medical facilities are using hand-held UVC devices
Indian banks, offices and medical facilities are using hand-held UV disinfection technology. The idea is to disinfect the things people frequently touch, because it's not possible to use water and chemicals
to disinfect items like paperwork, wooden furniture, food and electronic devices.

The Indian firm Nevon Solutions has done extensive research into UV devices, the first to do so in India. They've managed to integrate UV into disinfection devices that are affordable and easy to use. Now
Nevon's UV Disinfection devices are being used in several State Bank of India branches, major Hospitals, and many clinics across India, where they're popular because there are no recurring costs and no water supply
required. The six devices that have been developed so far all harness
UVC light to kill coronaviruses in 'a matter of seconds'.

(source: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/268510544/banks-outsmart-covid-19-with-ultraviolet-cleaning )

UVC disinfection and commercial HVAC
Olympia Lighting in New Jersey, USA, has just received a Virus Reduction Efficacy Test Report on its UVC Linear LED Strip testing from an independent laboratory. The technology was found to deliver more than
99.9% reduction of the covid virus.

Olympia's UVC device uses Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation LED technology to inactivate pathogens circulating inside an air system. An exposure of 8 minutes provided the best percentage of reduction of over
99.9 percent, and they also saw a virus reduction of 99.4 percent in just 60 seconds.

It looks like using UVC disinfection LED light inside HVAC systems is a reliable way to clean air between the return and supply, either opposite the coils or inside the Air Handler Unit. The research continues.

(source: https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20210413ph39386/olympias-uvc-disinfection-lighting-shows-a-significant-covid-19-virus-reduction-of-over-994-percent-when-used-in-commercial-hvac-applications )

Qatar airways adopts UVC cabin disinfection
Qatar Airways is the first global airline to use Honeywell’s Ultraviolet Cabin System version 2.0 to help make its aircraft covid-safe.

Qatar Airways aircraft have already been fitted with advanced air filtration systems including industrial-size HEPA filters designed to remove 99.97% of viral and bacterial contaminants from re-circulated
air. Honeywell's latest UV Cabin System V2 UVC devices have been extensively tested inside Qatar's aircraft, now they're planning to use them on board all aircraft turnarounds at Hamad International Airport.
This is the first airline to do so, and they've found the latest version of Honeywell's system both 'user friendly and technologically advanced'.

(source: https://www.poandpo.com/companies/qatar-airways-introduces-honeywells-ultraviolet-cabin-disinfection/ )

The global UV disinfection market 2021-2027
It's good to see predictions around the global UV disinfection market looking so buoyant, proof that the technology is effective and is steadily being adopted widely around the world in the fight against
covid. OpenPR news reveals a report into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, all of which are 'likely to experience prodigious sales opportunities throughout assessment
period of 2021 to 2027', according to a new research report by RMoz.

Join the world – Let's talk about our LED UVC covid disinfection tech
If you'd like to benefit from the fast, easy covid disinfection provided by our proven technology, which also happens to be more affordable than most, get in touch with us for an exciting discussion.

How to make the workplace safe from Covid?

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:50:28 GMT

As lockdown eases more of us are due back at work, perhaps even heading for the office for the first time since early 2020. Has your employer had taken every possible step to keep you safe? Here are some facts.

Good news – mRNA covid vaccines DO also stop the virus spreading
We need vaccines that stop covid spreading as well as stopping us from becoming very ill. Until recently we didn’t know whether vaccines also helped stop onward transmission. Now we’ve had some good news. Apparently mRNA vaccines like Pfizer/BioNTech are around 90% effective at blocking transmission, which is great news as long as you’ve been vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine and had both of your jabs. If not, you could still pick up covid at your workplace.

A return to working away from home will mean more cases
We’re seeing a lot of new cases every week, even though the number is dropping sharply at last. This means returning to the workplace comes with risks. While it might not mean extra deaths, since around half of the population has had at least one jab, but the number of cases will inevitably go up. At the same time around 10% of people end up with long covid, and more cases means the virus has more opportunity to mutate into something even nastier.

What about getting to work in the first place?
If you’re not feeling comfortable about commuting to work on a bus or train, you’re not alone. But in reality the risk is surprisingly low, according to research in Spain last summer, and even lower when you wear a mask. How come it’s safe-ish to take public transport? Simply because commuters tend not to chat, and most don’t stay on the train or bus for more than an hour. Car shares are seen as less safe because the ceilings in cars are low and the ventilation isn’t always as good as it is on buses and trains.

Surfaces don’t matter as much as the air
Scientists say there’s ‘too much focus on cleaning surfaces’, even though we know for sure the risk from surfaces is low. Compared with air, the surface is not much of a problem, and the World Health Organization is keen to hammer this message home. They also want more ‘explicit guidance’ about air ventilation standards, since at the moment there aren’t any.

Social interactions at work are one of the biggest risks
People enjoy social interactions at work. This is one of the most risky things of all simply because these interactions often happen away from desks, so fall outside the strict rules set in place at workstations. Because people also tend to be less wary in spaces they’re not required to be as careful in, naturally relaxing away from their desks to socialise, the effect can be dramatic.

Introducing the Hierarchy of Controls
The Hierarchy of Controls is a proven risk management strategy. It means doing the most effective things first, leaving less effective tactics until last or only as a fallback. As a rule the most effective tactics are built in and happen automatically, and the least effective rely on people changing their behaviour. At the moment businesses are floundering. There’s no funding from government and there are no rules, just guidelines, and that’s why the resulting workplace solutions are often weak.

Elimination is the best tactic of all. It’s happening in places like New Zealand, which acted quickly and effectively in the early days, but it won’t happen here in the UK. So your workplace cannot hope to become 100% covid free.
Next comes substitution, replacing the danger with something safer. The virus is spread by people, so employers can substitute different practices to make the workplace less risky, for example asking employees to work in bubbles or stop high risk activities like holding meetings inside enclosed meeting rooms.
After this comes ‘engineering defences’ against the risk. In covid’s case that often means ventilation. Badly ventilated indoor spaces are the worst of all for viral transmission, via large droplets from coughs or sneezes as well as smaller, lingering droplets called aerosols. Improving ventilation makes a huge difference as long as the air is exchanged several times an hour. Unfortunately it’s difficult to measure how well ventilated a space is, and it’s not a simple matter of opening windows. The level of ventilation needed is complex and costly. No wonder so many businesses are relying on plexiglass screens between desks instead of ventilation systems. But while these screens stop big droplets from spreading they don’t stop aerosols. If you’re sitting in an office for hours on end, a screen isn’t going to be enough.
Another engineered defence is our UVC machines – more about that later!
Administration is the final and least effective phase. It can mean making one-way systems using floor signs, and insisting on personal protection like face masks. These tactics are not much good in a workplace context but scientists say it’s ‘better than nothing’.

UVC light disinfection technologies
The most reliable way of all to clean the air and kill the covid vaccine is UVC light. Our innovative, affordable machines work quickly and extremely efficiently to kill covid in the air and on surfaces, and they clean a good-sized space in very little time. We foresee employers investing in our machines, cleaning the air in their premises several times a day, taking a few minutes each time to keep employees much more safe.

Our tech belongs in the ‘engineered defences’ category of the Hierarchy of Controls, but unlike ventilation systems our machines are simple to use and come at a relatively low cost.

Will we all really be going back to work?
Boris Johnson says most people will go back to work in the old-school way, with no lasting trend for working at home. Experts disagree. Many businesses and workers are never going to go back to the old ways, as highlighted by a September 2020 CIPD survey. They found UK employers expect 37% of their workforce to work from home regularly after the pandemic ends, compared to 18% pre-covid. In a later piece of research released this month, 63% of employers aim to bring in or increase ‘hybrid working’. This could involve flexible hours, annualised hours, term-time working, job shares, and part-time working.

Many of us have found we love working from home and are happy to carry on. Plenty of experts are calling for people to be given the choice around which ways or working they feel safest with. And we’ve found out through various lockdowns that people can be very productive indeed working from home.

If the UK’s employees have anything to do with it, they’ll demand permanent change. Because a business is nothing without its employees, they’ll probably succeed.

How your customers can spread covid without realising they've got it

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 07:15:02 GMT

There's plenty we don't know about covid, but we're clear on one thing – it spreads like wildfire. New science is revealing more about how likely we are to spread the virus, even when we don't have any symptoms.
The results are disturbing, showing exactly how important technologies that kill covid safely are to the human race's future. Here's what you need to know.

Covid is frequently asymptomatic
Covid can make healthy adults of every age very ill, but it can also be totally asymptomatic. This means you can carry the virus without even knowing it.

Research made public recently by a team from Columbia University, New York, looked at the course of the epidemic across 375 Chinese cities from 10th to 23rd January 2020 and found that a whopping 86% of cases in those first crucial weeks were asymptomatic or came with very mild symptoms. The same percentage applies to foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan. These asymptomatic cases are still contagious, and it looks like they were the source of 'most of' the virus' spread in China pre-lockdown. While asymptomatic people were just 55% as contagious as people with symptoms, they were the source of 79% of further infections.

At the same time a project in Italy has found a lot of symptomless cases. Take the town of Vò, one of the hardest-hit, where 60% of those who tested positive had no symptoms.

How do asymptomatic people spread the virus?
Coughs and sneezes spread the virus, so how do asymptomatic people spread the infection? These people actually have very high viral load in the upper respiratory tract. They shed the virus through spitting, touching their mouths or noses before touching a surface, even by simply talking. And, of course, we all cough and sneeze now and again, even when we're not ill.

As the symptoms develop your viral load steadily reduces, so you're less infectious. But you can actually keep on shedding the virus for around two weeks after you recover, in your saliva and stools. This means you can still infect other people when your symptoms have long gone.

Airborne droplets remain most likely to be the commonest route to infection. Contaminated surfaces are less risky but all the same, the virus can live around 2 hours on surfaces, according to experts at the University of Southampton. On the other hand research that came out last week says this is a dramatic under-estimate. In fact the virus can survive for 14 hours on cardboard, and as long as three days on plastic and stainless steel, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This matters when it's hard to avoid touching everyday things like door handles, stair railings, touch screens and so on. It's also an air thing – the virus sticks around in the air for about three hours.

Transmission via faeces
There's growing evidence covid can be spread via poop - from faeces to the mouth - according to research by the University of Washington, USA. This reinforces the power of hand-washing. It's important to note that simple soap and water is much more effective against this virus than alcohol hand gels.

Can you catch the virus twice?
The answer to this one remains to be seen – we don't yet know whether people can catch this coronavirus twice. But we do know that only asking people with symptoms, and their families, to isolate means we're only tackling part of the problem. Thanks to this virus' 'fiendish ability to 'cause very mild symptoms in people, and to peak in infectiousness before people even realise they are sick', we're in a tricky position going forwards. And that's yet another reason why our covid killing UVC technology is so important for businesses.

Our UVC disinfection machines clean the air and every surface the light touches in minutes, damaging the virus' DNA and RNA so badly it can't reproduce. And that means even if there are symptomless infected people in your premises, you're doing everything you can to keep others – and yourself and your staff – safe.

Using UVC disinfection to combat Covid-19…

chris@lucidsynergy.com (Chris Witham) — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 11:50:28 GMT

An appeal from LightingEurope

LightingEurope has appealed to EU policy makers to do more to ‘actively support and stimulate’ the use of UVC disinfection technologies like ours, to support the EU Renovation Wave Initiative and make sure the installation of UVC disinfection tech is financially supported.

As we know, UVC is already established as a highly effective way to disinfect, used since 1910 and now being harnessed once more to help fight the current pandemic. It has also been proved to inactivate all the bacteria and viruses it’s tested on, including SARS, MERS, TB, flu and the common cold, plus moulds, spores, fungi and yeasts, destroying their RNA and DNA. Recent research confirms UVC light is highly effective in inactivating the covid virus, too.

The European lighting industry leads the way with safe UVC disinfection tech, including lamps, light fixtures,
cabinets and various connected systems. These are already being used to disinfect water, air, and surfaces across industrial, commercial, medical, public and residential contexts.

UVC effectively cleans trapped and recirculated indoor air, reducing airborne infections. It disinfects drinking water in taps, coolers and things like coffee machines. It also makes swimming pools, fish ponds, aquariums and waste water safe, as well as cleaning a multitude of surfaces in public places like trains, aircraft, buses,
food manufacturing sites, hotels and hospitals. The safety of all this is assured when disinfection tech is manufactured, installed and used according to the Global Lighting Association’s safety guidelines. They’ve also provided UVC light safety guidelines covering essentials like presence detection and access controls,
instructions and warning signs.

Lighting Europe’s concerns
LightingEurope is concerned about UVC disinfection devices available online, which come with claims that can’t be proved, inadequate safety features and poor safety instructions. LightingEurope also focuses on vital design processes, where all of the design elements are considered together instead of applying different measures in isolation. You’ll be glad to know that we already abide by all the necessary rules and standards.

We already have the solutions, and they’re already being used. The European lighting industry has been making high quality, safe UVC tech for many decades. The sector simply needs to realise its full potential, which will involve:

Installing UVC disinfection technologies when designing safe indoor spaces
Making sure finances are there to support the installation of UVC disinfection tech in the ‘Renovation Wave Initiative’ as well as in commercial and industrial settings
Installing UVC disinfection technologies to support national renovation and climate change plans
Ensuring the current rules are applied and enforced – which means non-compliant products should
not be sold online or anywhere else
Using UVC disinfecting tech to the manufacturers’ specifications
Increasing inspection of consumer products
Allocating enough resources to the authorities who enforce the rules
Including UVC disinfection applications in building fit-out design
Promoting UVC disinfection via health authorities

We’re on the case!
Our UVC disinfection machines are thoroughly tested, have all the safety features you need, and are proven to kill covid as well as numerous other viruses, bacteria, moulds and more. If you’d like to know more about the safety and effectiveness of our machines, we’ll be delighted to talk.

Trailblazing UVC virus-killing tech supported by government funding

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 11:48:36 GMT

It’s fantastic to know that, at last, the UK government has recognised the power of UVC light in killing covid, and has given it the thumbs up. They’ve handed over a small amount of funding, £296,000 in all, to find out more about Far-UVC, the cousin of the light we use in our fantastic and highly effective covid disinfection machines. The results will join those of numerous other studies that have proved UVC to be highly effective as well as safe when used by experts to create machines like ours. Here are the details.

New research to add to existing proof
Over the past year or so we’ve been collecting news of research around the world into using UVC light to kill viruses. The latest research comes from NHS Tayside and the University of Dundee, and it has already proved that the particular type of ultraviolet light known as Far-UVC, a little different from the UVC wavelength we use in our machines, can also safely disinfect public places.

The Government’s Department of Health and Social Care is funding two new studies. There’s a grant of £160,000 going to fund skin safety studies with volunteers, taking place via clinical trials at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, plus another £136,000 going to the virologists at the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex at the University of St Andrews, to fund research at a Leeds University bioaerosol facility. It’s great to know, since the funding clearly shows the government is taking UVC disinfection technology as seriously as we are.

The results of the initial research were published in Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine in 2020. Since then a team has been set up to ‘expand knowledge’ about the wavelength’s potential, including experts Ninewells Hospital, the Universities of St Andrews, Dundee and Leeds, Heriot-Watt University and Columbia University in New York, plus local Scottish businesses. The ‘acceleration funding’ from the government should move things along nicely.

The story so far
UVC light is already well established for killing viruses. Both conventional UVC and Far-UVC light are already great at inactivating viruses like SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces and in air, as evi8denced by our popular technology. Just like the UVC light we use, Dr Ewan Eadie from Ninewells hospital says, “Far-UVC light has the potential to revolutionise the fight against airborne transmission of not just SARS-CoV-2 and its mutant variants, but all airborne viruses including seasonal influenza.”

The new clinical trials will investigate changes in the skin when exposed to high-dose Far-UVC exposure, and to lower doses too. We look forward to the results of the new government-backed research.

Information you can trust…

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 11:47:30 GMT

Covid science in books, on TV, radio and online

Now more than ever before, humanity needs to rely on science rather than fear-mongering, rumours, media hysteria, false news, and politics.

Everything we do is grounded in rock-solid science. Our popular UVC virus disinfecting technology works so well because the science behind it is totally reliable.

Thank you to New Scientist magazine for recommending a list of top class online, TV, radio content and books that you can trust to be truthful, honest, and scientifically accurate. If you’d like to know more of the scientific truth behind the virus that’s still changing our lives, still making our world difficult to navigate, still making the future uncertain, here are some great science-based recommendations for you.

Get the truth from the New Scientist Weekly podcast
New Scientist Weekly is a brilliant podcast featuring expert journalists from the magazine discussing the most important science stories to hit the headlines every week including, of course, the latest discoveries and statistics about covid.

BBC Radio 4 on covid
Radio 4 is home to The Jump, a fantastic series that delves deep into the way viruses like covid cross over from animals into humans then cause pandemics. The first episode looks at the origins of covid-19.

The BBC gets busy with top class documentaries
It’s a horrible trend, and the reasons behind it are shocking. Why Is Covid Killing People of Colour? This BBC documentary looks at why we’ve seen such high rates of covid-19 deaths in ethnic minority patients, revealing the UK’s underlying health inequalities. Panorama: The Race for a Vaccine is another treat from the BBC, this time examining the fascinating inside story of the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Then there’s Belly Mujinga: Searching for the Truth, a BBC Panorama investigation into the death of transport worker Belly Mujinga from covid-19, after she was coughed and spat on at work in London Victoria railway station.

Channel 4’s contribution
Over to channel Four for this one. Race Against the Virus: Hunt for a Vaccine is a Channel 4 documentary revealing the story of the coronavirus pandemic as told through the eyes of the scientists working on the front line.

The New York Times
Across the Atlantic, the New York Times is busy reporting on the progress of potential drug treatments – as opposed to vaccines - for covid-19, ranking them in order of effectiveness and safety.

Online wisdom-gathering via social media
Taking things online, the Humans of COVID-19 project, taking place in the UK via social media, concerns the real-life experiences of key workers on the front line.

An excellent Netflix series
Netflix is also getting busy with the science thanks to Coronavirus, Explained, a short documentary series covering the pandemic, humanity’s efforts to beat it, and how to manage its toll on our mental health.

Not-to-miss books on covid
COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One is a book by by Debora Mackenzie revealing how the pandemic happened and why it will happen all over again if we don’t behave differently in future. And The Rules of Contagion is about the developing science of contagion and the unexpected ways it shapes our lives. The author, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine so he knows all about how diseases spread, and why they stop.

Our covid disinfection tech – Informed by science
If you’d like to know more about our machines and how they work hard and well to kill covid, we’ll be delighted to discuss the potential with you.

About new variants, hybrids, and recombinant coronaviruses.

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 13:41:33 GMT

What is a ‘recombinant virus’? It’s bad news.
Recombinants are made up of a blend of two variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and scientists have found them spreading between people. This is increasing the risk of highly dangerous new variants, and it’s very worrying.

Recombinants enter the scene
The first recombination was noticed in February 2021, but at the time nobody knew whether it was out there in the wild. Two new analyses prove we have a worst-case scenario, with recombinants freely circulating.
This is a powerful source of evolutionary change in the coronavirus, and it could easily see recent mutations combining to create something ‘more dangerous’.

One analysis saw experts estimating as many as 1 in 20 of all the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the UK and US are actually recombinants. They analysed more than 500,000 covid genomes from around the globe to find over a thousand potential recombinants, most very rare. But two are already circulating fast, one hitting the USA, UK, Singapore, Japan and Canada, and the other affecting the USA, UK, Canada and Denmark. Thankfully neither of them are ‘of concern’, and there’s no reason to believe these recombinants have changed the virus’ ease of transmission or its virulence.

When the recombinants combine
Other less common recombinants do feature scary mutations, and scientists are worried that recombining two lineages with higher transmissibility or virulence could prove lethally dangerous. Since the analysis took place we’ve already seen the commonest recombinant spreading horribly fast, becoming even more prevalent and widespread in the USA. This could be a sign of worse levels of transmissibility, but the numbers still need to be checked and peer-reviewed before any conclusions can be drawn.

The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland has also done some research into recombination, examining 100,000 genomes from around the world at the end of October 2020, when fewer variants were circulating. They’ve pinned down a total of 8 potential recombinants. The research also hasn’t been peer reviewed yet but it hints that the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 recombinants could have ‘major implications’, especially if one of them escapes natural immunity and vaccine immunity so can’t be stopped in its tracks.

We’ve seen it happen with recombinant norovirus
We know what’s in store if that happens. In the past, recombined strains of norovirus have led to a fast escape from naturally acquired immunity, leading to brand new pandemics of gastroenteritis.

At the same time we’re seeing more evidence for recombination. The more people catch covid-19, the more risk there is of variants, and the more chance there is that these variants will recombine into something that could prove spectacularly nasty.

Stop it spreading, stop the recombinations
It’s the same as variants – the fewer of us catches the virus, the less chance it has to create new variants, and the less risk there is of the variants combining to create recombinants. Now, more than ever, businesses need to invest in our covid UVC disinfection tech!

Predicting Covid – Secondary school case hikes and a definite third wave

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 13:37:58 GMT

The latest figures reveal how covid cases are rising steadily in England’s secondary schools. The independent SAGE group of scientists that advises the government is warning about rising cases in children, following schools re-opening on 8th March, just three weeks ago.

Brand new results from random swab testing by the Office for National Statistics support the finding, revealing how coronavirus infections among youngsters aged 11 to 16 have gone up slightly. Right now 0.43% of secondary school children are testing positive, compared to 0.31% the week before. As James Naismith from the University of Oxford said, the new variants are harder to control, so it seems likely that schools’ reopening is beginning to show up in the data.

This sits against a background where positive covid tests in England seem to have levelled off. At the same time scientists are seeing signs that the overall decline in new cases in England is slowing down. Right now England’s R number, the average number of people each coronavirus case infects, falls between 0.7 and 0.9, up from 0.6 - 0.9 the previous week and 0.6 - 0.8 two weeks ago.

Germany’s third wave predicted as harder to stop
At the same time officials in Germany say that a third wave of coronavirus infections is set to be ‘harder to curb’ than the first two waves, predicting as many as 100,000 new infections every day without any intervention. Right now the numbers are rising ‘too fast’ and the new variants are making the situation even worse. The German health system could fail in April if things don’t improve. A third wave in Africa could have a fatal effect on fragile healthcare systems in poorer African countries, and the World Health Organization is concerned about that, too.

A UK third wave is ‘inevitable’
Here in the UK Boris Johnson says a third UK wave is ‘inevitable’, and scientists agree. They have have been warning us for weeks that a new surge is due this year as lockdown restrictions ease. The early figures about vaccine take-up and effectiveness are good, but at the same time we have three remaining groups who can catch the virus and get ill, even when everyone else has been vaccinated - the under 18s, people who refuse to be vaccinated, and those it doesn’t protect, are all at risk.

In the UK around 21% of us are under 18. Around 6% of adults say they won’t have the jab, and the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine delivers around 75 – 80% protection from a severe illness leading to hospitalisation - better than predicted, which is excellent news. All the same these three groups add up, leaving a great many people vulnerable to becoming very ill. There’s more. Vaccines don’t completely stop people from catching and transmitting the virus, even if they don’t get ill, and nobody’s quite sure about the figures for that yet. Some people will have some natural immunity, others won’t.

It’s all about lockdown
Altogether, by July, scientists reckon a third or so of the UK – about 22 million of us – will have neither vaccine-led or natural immunity, so could be affected by the third wave. So how might the third wave look? Hospital admissions and deaths will shoot up alongside infections, but less dramatically than the first two lockdowns. One of the most important factors of all is how quickly the lockdown restrictions are lifted.
The current tactic is to stop and reflect at every step of potential relaxation to see if things are going well enough.

If enough young adults refuse the vaccine it could affect the size of the third wave, as will new variants. Computer modelling, taking all the risks into account, predict the third wave will kill 30,000 more of us.
On the other hand some experts say there are many unknown factors that could easily force deaths and hospitalisations much higher. Scientists say new variants are their biggest worry, and a vaccine-resistant variant is the biggest worry of all.

The more you can do to stop the spread, the better. Let’s talk about how our UVC LED technology quickly, efficiently disinfects spaces by killing the virus.

Covid predictions…

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 08:00:03 GMT

How long will we need to consider covid?

Back in October 2020 the University of Liverpool’s Professor Julian Hiscox said, “We might be back to some semblance of normality by summer time next year, but we won’t be ‘back to 2019’ for five years.” Now, with some experts predicting a third wave in Wales on the way, more of the people in the know are saying full recovery and ‘back to normal’ will be a long time coming.

It looks like regular booster vaccines will be likely in future, according to the head of COVID-19 Genomics UK, a consortium dedicated to sequencing various coronavirus genomes. Increasing numbers of scientists are warning that managing the virus means we’ll have to change our way of life ‘forever’. In their view, and it’s an increasingly widely-held view, it’s likely the virus will still be around for many years to come, becoming something called an ‘endemic infection’ that’s always there in the background, like flu.

On the bright side, change is not always 100% bad. Humanity will eventually come to terms with the virus, creating a new relationship with it, where it doesn’t disrupt our lives anywhere near as much. This is what tends to happen with pandemics, and there’s no reason to believe covid will act any differently.

With luck and a fair wind behind us, either the many different vaccines being developed across the world, or being infected several times, both have the capacity to give us enough immunity to stop the virus being as deadly as it is now. But it isn’t going to be an easy process. As Professor Mark Woolhouse from Edinburgh University said in October last year, “This will settle down over decades. The problem is what happens over those decades. I don’t see a route that isn’t painful in one way or another.”

Then there are outlier nations like Brazil, where leaders are sceptical and covid hasn’t been handled at all well. They’re fast becoming no-go areas, too dangerous to visit and at horribly high risk of more, deadlier variants emerging. This does not bode well for a fast return to international travel.

What will the future look like around distancing and masks?
Scientists predict that some level of social distancing will probably carry on for a long time to come, despite entire populations being vaccinated. At-risk groups like the elderly and immune-suppressed might need to keep sheltering or taking extra precautions for years too, thanks to ongoing uncertainty about the length and quality of the protection they get from vaccines.

Going back to normal will, at the very least, demand that vaccines stop people from spreading the virus as well as protecting them from the illness. Optimists say there will be enough immunity to reduce transmission rates to a very low level, which means there will no longer be a crisis but we’d still need to socially distance and wear masks, and carry on with the hand-washing. Less optimistic experts suggest this too might need to carry on for ‘years or decades’. As Professor Woolhouse said back in October, “I suspect life has changed to some degree forever, I don’t think there is a going back. There is a ‘new normal’.”

Enter the future with a level of confidence
Against this backdrop, it’s clear that it makes more business sense to prepare for a new normal than to keep on harking back to the pre-covid definition of normality. Our safe, affordable and highly effective UVC LED disinfection tech is helping increasing numbers of businesses of every size do exactly that. How about yours?

How data transparency supports reliable UV LED covid disinfection

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 13:12:32 GMT

Disinfection against covid is absolutely crucial, now and into the future. So far UVC LED technology is the best, most efficient way to disinfect spaces against the virus. To ensure the technology is properly understood throughout the supply chain, and widely trusted by the public, it is vitally important to be completely transparent about the data behind ultraviolet LED. Here’s what you need to know. Thanks to LEDs magazine for the insight.

Disaster and innovation go hand in hand
Strife drives innovation. It happened during the First World War, where we saw the arrival of marvels like sun lamps, tea bags, and zips. The pandemic is driving the same kind of innovation, with fast-changing and fast-developing new technologies emerging, coined to help us cope with a worldwide emergency. One example is the rapid advances in ultraviolet C-band (UV-C) LED technology for viral disinfection.

Germicidal UV brings some brilliant opportunities to humanity, but there are also some challenges around openness to deal with. The last thing our sector needs is to risk jeopardizing the adoption of germicidal UV, or even threaten public safety. It’s important since we’re already seeing misinformation spreading about the use of hand-held home UVC devices, manufactured by unscrupulous makers, which can be very dangerous as well as ineffective.

Every piece of data matters
All the characteristics of an LED must be provided, otherwise the information is incomplete. If a manufacturer talks about radiant flux without mentioning input power, what are they hiding? If you know the dosage but have no clue about the efficiency data, you’re missing crucial insight. A wavelength on its own doesn’t mean much. And if you make a lifetime claim without temperature data, the information means absolutely nothing.

WPE - All about wall plug efficiency
Wall-plug efficiency describes the ratio of radiant flux to input power. UV-C LEDs are relatively new tech, and the WPE is low compared to old-school mercury-vapour lamps. There’s also a significant WPE variance between LED manufacturers, sometimes as much as two times at much the same power level. Luckily, thanks to today’s outstanding rates of progress, it won’t be long before LED WPE overtakes the old mercury vapour tech.

LED facts – The truth about radiant flux
‘Radiant flux’ describes the radiated energy an LED gives out at a specific input current and voltage. It’s really important to compare like for like, and that means understanding the total power at which the flux is stated. Many manufacturers provide the radiant flux, or the radiant flux at a given current, but there’s a problem here. All UV LEDs are not equal. The VF or forward voltage varies dramatically across manufacturers, from as low as 5V to more than 8V at 350 mA.

How many nanometres? It’s a wavelength thing
254 nm is only one of the choices available right now. UV-C LEDs range from 220–280 nm, and some are already commercially available. The point is, the shorter the wavelength, the lower the flux, efficiency, and lifetime of the LED. It’s another thing everyone needs to know about.

Kill that virus! What about virucidal power?
Virucidal power describes the virucidal efficiency multiplied by the radiant flux. Virucidal efficiency versus wavelength obviously matters when you want to kill a virus. But that isn’t the only side of the story. It looks as though 265 nm is probably the most efficient germicidal inactivation wavelength, assuming there’s the same radiant flux per wavelength... but sadly that doesn’t quite work, simply because radiant flux varies according to the wavelength. Although the wavelength is fixed for each LED engine, they can come in a variety of wavelengths. Two wavelength engines mixed in the same array makes them even deadlier, as the pathogen DNA damage would differ slightly for each wavelength type. Virucidal power is most suited to UVC LED light sources.

The facts around junction failure
Junction temperature occurs at the junction of the LED die, where the electrons collide to create light particles/waves called photons, plus heat. LEDs and heat don’t go together well, which means this junction is absolutely critical when talking about LED output and lifetime.

System dose insights
It’s a shame that dosage sharing hasn’t been happening over the past year or so, since the pandemic hit.
To figure out the required system dose you need to multiply the irradiance in mW/cm2 by time in seconds, and experts are going as far as calling the secretive nature of dosing a ‘very irresponsible tactic’. There has been a multitude of claims around covid inactivation but very few of them have mentioned the actual dosage. Every system should come with clear information about the dosage and efficiency, rather than making spurious marketing-led claims like ‘disinfects in seconds’.

The lifetime of LED tech
LEDs don’t usually fail dramatically, they tend to gradually fade. Lifetime hours are described by manufacturers as Lxx, with xx being the percentage of radiant flux left. Heat is the biggest reason LEDs degrade, but few if any manufacturers bother to include this in their lifetime data. Accurate lifetime data must also include the junction temperature, the only way for users to properly understand LED lifetime in a thermally-stable system.

An appeal to every LED manufacturer on the planet
As key players in the LED UVC disinfection sector, we’re appealing to LED manufacturers to openly provide every piece of information needed. At this stage in the pandemic, and going forward, sharing is not just ‘nice to have’. It’s essential.

Future-proofing your business against emerging covid risks

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 08:00:02 GMT

On 23rd March 2020 the UK went into lockdown. At this stage we've spent almost an entire year in and out of lockdowns. While things seem to be easing a bit as we write, with a 'road map' in place and a suite of flexible milestones to come, it's still going to take an almighty collective effort to bring things back to anything near 'normal'. In many ways, though, we're beginning to realise that 'back to normal' probably isn't going to happen at all. How do businesses cope with that?

12 months along and our habits have changed
A year is a long time, and during that time our habits have changed profoundly. Can you imagine feeling happy about not wearing a mask in a crowded public space, or does the thought of going mask-less really worry you? Can you see yourself confidently entering a theatre, pub, shop, cinema or restaurant without social distancing?

How do you feel about sitting in an office 9-5 with your colleagues, only a few feet apart, in a room where the windows don't open, with air conditioning blasting out? It doesn't help that air conditioning systems have been tipped as spreading the virus. It's different at home, of course, where the only droplets that can be spread by air conditioning come from you and the people you’ve been safely in lockdown with. But in an office?

Air conditioning makes a space feel fresher but all it actually does is recycle existing air. As one article says,
“A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets, while a single sneeze can release about 30,000.” When an air conditioning unit is on, the air flow pushes these droplets through the air which can potentially infect other people. This helps to explain why common colds and norovirus infections can spread so quickly in an office setting.

Apply these common concerns back to your audience
Apply these thoughts and feelings back to your audience. Even if you do manage to get back to business-as-usual, you might find a proportion of people decide to steer clear of physically interacting with your premises, preferring to buy online or 'click and collect' instead. And that means you'll need to think about permanent changes in the way you offer your goods and services.

It's even more challenging for people who provide close contact services, people like our hairdressers, beauticians, tattooists, sports and massage therapists, tailors and fashion designers. You want to maximise the safety of your employees and customers, but you still want to provide a great service that people will enjoy and appreciate. How do you minimise the changes of someone – an employee or customer - catching covid?

Government advice about keeping staff and customers safe
The government has provided detailed guidance on working safely during coronavirus, with advice available for every imaginable type of business. There's also government advice about how to keep staff and customers safe, updated on 10th February 2021:

Complete a COVID-19 risk assessment. Share it with all your staff.
Clean more often. Increase how often you clean surfaces, especially those that are being touched a lot. Ask your staff and your customers to use hand sanitiser and wash their hands frequently.
Ask your customers to wear face coverings in any indoor space or where required to do so by law. That is especially important if your customers are likely to be around people they do not normally meet. Some exemptions apply. Check when to wear one, exemptions, and how to make your own.
Make sure everyone is social distancing. Make it easy for everyone to do so by putting up signs or introducing a one way system that your customers can follow.
Increase ventilation by keeping doors and windows open where possible and running ventilation systems at all times.
Take part in NHS Test and Trace by keeping a record of all your customers for 21 days. This will be enforced in law. Some exemptions apply. Check Maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors to support NHS Test and Trace for details.
Turn people with coronavirus symptoms away. If a staff member (or someone in their household) or a customer has a persistent cough, a high temperature or has lost their sense of taste or smell, they should be isolating.

Our UVC covid disinfection machines make “back to normal” safer
Number two is vital. The cleaner you can keep your spaces, the safer they'll be. You could employ an army of human cleaners, kit them out with PPE and disinfecting chemicals, and get them to clean the place every few hours, after every customer, whatever. Or you could invest in our proven UVC light covid disinfection technology and bring one of our amazing machines into play, the same technology used by the healthcare sector to keep spaces safe from nasties like Ebola, SARS, MERS, and Hospital Acquired Infections.

Our machines disinfect spaces effectively and efficiently in just a few minutes. As a GP surgery or dental surgery, for example, you can set it going after every patient, for just a few minutes, to make things safe for the next patient. As a theatre or cinema owner you can disinfect during the interval and between shows. It's quick, effective and low cost compared to teams of cleaners. And it lets you offer the safest possible environment for everyone concerned.

One fine day we might be free of this thing. Until then, we'll need to make the best of it that we can – and that involves UVC light technology. In that respect we do more than keep places disinfected. We future-proof businesses, too.

Vaccine special…

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 14:50:42 GMT

Flawed strategies, long covid,
future border controls

It's great news that so many of us in Britain have been vaccinated. But as we're starting to realise, vaccinations don't solve everything. They're brilliant, and the new science behind them is awe-inspiring, but like all vaccines, they come with issues we need to be wary of. Here's a covid vaccine special for you.

'Emerging issues' threaten vaccine success
Globally, more than 300 million people have been vaccinated so far. It's remarkable news, and an extraordinary achievement. But even in places where there's plenty of vaccine available and people are the least 'hesitant' about having a jab, emerging issues are threatening vaccination plans.

While it makes sense to vaccinate the most vulnerable first, to keep them safe, doing so also raises the risk of so-called 'escape' covid variants that could prove more deadly, more easily spread, or both. You can imagine how new variants are more likely, when you vaccinate those most at risk first but leave those who mix with other people the most until last. As one expert said, “It's bonkers to keep buying lottery tickets for your worst enemy then being surprised when they win the lottery”. By the same token it's easy to see how nations with very few cases also have a much lower risk of escape variants being created – the virus simply doesn't have the same opportunity to evolve.

To combat the risk of a new escape variant, it's vital to keep the number of new cases super-low until the vaccination process is completed and everyone has had their jabs, hence the UK's current slow and steady approach, which is very different from the tactics employed by the government after the first lockdown.

Countries with little or no covid at the moment, having closed their borders, are going to find it a challenge to manage strict border controls with other countries which are less fortunate, those that are 'learning to live with' the virus in one way or another. How will they decide who comes in and who doesn't?

We already know there's no such thing as a vaccine – for any disease – that works for absolutely everyone. So how do people know they're still at risk after they've been vaccinated against covid? Thankfully there's the promise of commercial tests designed to measure the precise level of antibodies in your blood after infection and vaccination, which means we should be able to monitor ourselves, or be monitored by our doctors, to check we have a decent level of immunity. The tests aren't anywhere good enough yet, but scientists are working very hard to make them so.

At the same time, we're still not certain how much the virus can spread amongst those who have been inoculated. Added together, all this means there's no such thing as a simple 'vaccinate and go'.

In the meantime in the USA...
The US is still seeing more than 58,000 new covid cases a day. But they are taking a dramatically different tack to the UK right now, allowing fully vaccinated people to meet indoors without masks and without social distancing. In the USA you can also visit unvaccinated people from a single household without masks or distancing, as long as the people in the household are not at 'serious risk'.

Officials say they've loosened the restrictions in this way because there's enough evidence that the covid vaccines are good at preventing asymptomatic infection and maybe even transmission. The UK, on the other hand, believes the relaxation is far too dangerous, which is why we are not following suit.

In the UK vaccinated people are still required to wear a mask and socially distance when 'near other people', and we still have strict controls around how and where we can mix. It does feel safer, and scientists agree. In the words of one UK expert, Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick, “Allowing fully vaccinated people to meet with those who are not vaccinated is asking for trouble.”

Do vaccines help cure long covid?
There's some evidence that being vaccinated can bring about a full recovery in those who have been suffering from long covid. One study reveals interesting results. Apparently most long covid sufferers felt 'moderately unwell' for two days post-vaccination. After the two days of feeling grotty had passed, 32% of people with long covid felt better, compared to 14% who said they felt slightly worse. About half felt the same as the did before their vaccination. Scientists say more formal studies are needed to get to the bottom of it.

Uncertain times mean you need our covid disinfection tech going forwards
In a landscape like this, where scientists know some things but remain uncertain about others, our UVC LED covid disinfection machines are as important as ever. When you want to feel more confident about the future of your business, and also want to keep the people who interact with and work for the business safe on an ongoing basis, you need reliable, fast, affordable covid disinfection technology. If that's you, let's talk.

Covid is just one of many coronaviruses…

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 09:00:03 GMT

Can we make a vaccine for them all?

Covid isn't unique. It isn't the first coronavirus to make the leap into humans. Far from it. And there is zero chance that it'll be the last. Does it make sense to work on a vaccine that kills all possible coronaviruses? Under the circumstances we face, it absolutely does. So how are scientists doing on the search for a different kind of vaccine, one that'll protect us against other existing and future coronaviruses? As it turns out the work has already started. Many thanks to New Scientist magazine for the insight.

Universal coronavirus vaccines due for human trials in late 2021
The next coronavirus could easily be as transmissible as SARS-CoV-2 but also as deadly as SARS and MERS.

If that happened we could easily see a hundred million people dead within a year.

A universal coronavirus vaccine would have to pin down a common region of every coronavirus, one that's totally essential for survival. It also has to target a thing or place that doesn’t change as viruses mutate, which they always do. There is such a place, luckily, and it's called the universal epitope, the immune system-stimulating region of the virus.

Let's be clear – we can't yet say it's possible to make a vaccine that works against all coronaviruses. But the signs are looking good. In 2014 a team identified an epitope that proved universal across all known human coronaviruses, but the discovery wasn't taken any further. Now we need to give it a go and take the research to the next stage.

So current and future coronaviruses are pretty likely to have common features that a universal vaccine could focus on. Immunological studies reveal more useful facts. Antibodies from people who have recovered from SARS sometimes give protection against covid, and vice versa. In the same way, animals immunised against SARS-have developed resistance to covid. This alone suggests a universal vaccine is possible.

Another approach involves making artificial proteins with the features of spike proteins from several human and animal coronaviruses, in an effort to deliver broad immunity against multiple coronaviruses. The results of the early animal tests are, apparently, 'rather promising'. Other studies provoke a handy T-cell immune response, also in mice.

In the meantime the UK company ConserV Bioscience is busy developing an mRNA vaccine that kills off the full spectrum of coronaviruses, including common cold viruses. They haven't given any details yet but they're keen to create a vaccine to give people every few years, designed to keep us safe from all coronaviruses.

The vaccine is in the preclinical testing stage right now and could start early human trials in 2021.
VBI Vaccines in Massachusetts is on the same trajectory, hoping to begin human trials later in 2021.
Their universal vaccine targets SARS, covid 19 and MERS.

Numerous vaccines underway around the globe
As well as a universal vaccine, there are trials going on around the world for a host of new covid vaccines, each using slightly different methods. Some are more child-friendly than others, some work better on older people than younger. Once they're all up and running we'll have a battery of weapons against covid.

In the meantime, we need to stop the spread as fast as we can, by whatever methods we have available.
Why does it matter so much? Because the more people catch the virus, the more opportunity it has to morph into more dangerous variants that could ultimately kill millions of us.

Our UVC tech kills known coronaviruses
Our UVC LED tech is proven to kill off covid 19, SARS, MERS, Ebola and more. It's known to kill 99.9% of coronaviruses. A universal vaccine isn't a certainty, but it's a strong hope. Combining current vaccines with UVC disinfection tech is going to make a lot of difference to the way we manage covid in future.

Long covid and kids…

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:02:50 GMT

Why schools need to up their covid disinfection game

The science is clear. Our kids are suffering from 'long covid', and it could lead to lasting health problems.
No wonder some politicians are calling the lack of publicity around kids with long covid a 'national scandal', and no wonder some parents are not happy about the schools in England going back this week.

On the bright side, children seem to be reasonably well-protected from the most severe symptoms of covid-19 itself. Apparently most youngsters are either symptomless or suffer very mild symptoms.
But increasing numbers of kids, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, are already experiencing long-term effects, 'many months after the initial infection'.

Long covid in children – The symptoms
The symptoms of long covid include fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, insomnia, reissues, nausea, dizziness, seizures, hallucinations and even testicular pain. In total the experts reckon there are more than 100 different symptoms.

A recent piece of research showed how 13.3% of adults with symptomatic covid-19 have symptoms lasting more than 28 days, generally getting worse as you get older or are overweight. Long covid is more likely in women than men. And if you suffer from more than five symptoms in the first week, you also have a bigger risk of long covid. But it looks like more than 50% of children aged 6-16 who catch covid have at least one symptom lasting more than 120 days, and 42.6% of them are finding that the symptoms are affecting their daily lives.

Large numbers of our children could suffer long term symptoms
The UK Office for National Statistics says 12.9% of children aged 2 - 11 and 14.5% of those aged 12-16 are still having symptoms five weeks after their first infection. Since March last year almost half a million children have tested positive for covid-19. This is not a happy picture by anyone's standards, and because we have a lot less information than we need about long Covid in children, it's possible we're looking at the tip of an awful iceberg.

While most people of every age recover from the virus within 12 weeks, the UK pressure group 'Long Covid Kids' says they know of 1200 children with long covid from 890 families in England, and the number is rising fast. None of these children have returned to their previous state of health, and most are 'unable to do their normal activities.' Some are still confined to bed, unable to get up for any length of time. Others have been poorly since March 2020. As one parent said, “Although they have bad periods and better periods, they are never well.”

The lack of information on long covid in children is especially important since England's schools re-opened this week. Officials say they don’t have enough data on the long-term impacts to make good policy decisions. In February NICE handed over £1.4 million to a study designed to assess the risk factors and prevalence of long covid in children. No wonder some experts have called sending children back to school un-vaccinated something that invites, “the possibility of giving a whole generation long-term chronic health issues.”

The good news?
Research suggests children don’t easily pass covid-19 to each other in school. The results of at least one study reveal children are more likely to get covid-19 from family members than from their peers or teachers, although the science isn't yet confirmed. Until now, the focus of the pandemic has been preventing severe disease and deaths in older people. But there are growing calls to also look much harder at the potential long term health risks faced by our children.

Our UVC covid disinfection tech will clean an average-sized classroom in minutes. Need we say more?
Let's talk about making your school safer for everyone, of every age.

UVC light disinfection questions…

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:00:53 GMT

What is the effect of UVC on plants?

Plants need light. It's their main source of energy. Sunshine is made up of three broad light wavelengths called UVA, UVB and UVC. As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, all the UVC and most of the UVB is absorbed by ozone, water vapour, oxygen and carbon dioxide. The UVA isn't filtered out as efficiently, so plenty of that reaches earth.

We use UVC light to disinfect work spaces, play spaces and more against covid-19. Imagine your work space contains houseplants, placed there to give your employees a more attractive and healthy workspace? What effect does covid UVC light disinfection tech have on those plants, if any? Can you safely use our UVC LED disinfection tech without damaging the plants that makes life at your place so much nicer?

The effect of UVC light on plants
Our covid disinfection machines use UVC light. Plants are not naturally exposed to natural UVC light outdoors, simply because the light doesn't naturally find its way through the ozone layer. In fact UVC in large doses can damage plants.

If you are growing tomatoes indoors under lights, for example, and you leave a UVC light on all day, you'll be in trouble. You'll kill them off. In the same way as it damages virus DNA and RNA, UVC wavelength light damages plant RNA and DNA. On the other hand it depends on how long you expose the plant to UVC.

Our machines are designed to be switched on for a short time. A few minutes is usually enough to disinfect an average sized classroom, for example, or a dental surgery. Experts say it takes longer term exposure than that to destroy and mutate the RNA and DNA inside a plant. Germicidal UVC bulbs have been used in horticulture for years. In fact some companies make commercial UVC lights designed to treat fungus on plants, which are widely used as a daily part of commercial plant maintenance. Here's an example. The spores from a plant disease called Powdery Mildew are killed off by around 1800 u watts of UVC light, and all that's needed is a 'quick once-over' for the light to kill all the spores the light touches.

Daily short term use of UVC in this way not only kills spores and moulds. It can even help the plant develop thicker leaves, something else that helps them reject pathogens.

A word from the scientists
In 2007 two Dutch inventors, Arne Aiking and Frank Verheijen, were given a Patent for their method of treating live plants and mushrooms against pathogens using UVC light. They had discovered the secret to using UVC to fight pathogens on living plants – namely, that you shouldn't use 'more than necessary'. These days the mobile UV-C lamp they invented travels up and down thousands of commercial greenhouses across the world, keeping plants safe from disease on a grand scale.

They say the safest way to use UVC on plants is in regular, small doses, shining it every day for a short time. So are you safe using our UCV covid disinfection lights in a space that contains plants? The answer is yes, because the exposure isn't long term enough to cause damage. It's also interesting to note that UVC light doesn't penetrate through leaves.

If your office is stacked with beautiful houseplants, you can relax. Our UCV covid disinfection machines shouldn't cause them any damage.

UVC light kills covid…

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 13:58:58 GMT

But beware of dodgy at-home devices!

UV light has been used to stop pathogens for decades. It works beautifully against the SARS-CoV-2 virus we're all battling right now. But many of the hand-held at-home devices you can buy are simply not safe.

You need a machine that will deliver the exact right dosage, at the ideal wavelength, and it isn't simple.

The three types of UV light
UV radiation comes in three different wavelengths, namely UVA, UVB and UVC. Most of the radiation that gets to our planet is UVA, the rest is mostly trapped by the ozone layer before it can reach us. UVC comes with the shortest wavelength and the highest energy, and that's why it's so good as a disinfectant.

UVC at the specific wavelength of 254 nanometers has been widely and successfully used to inactivate H1N1 flu, SARS and MERS. It also eliminates covid 19 by causing lesions in the virus' RNA and DNA, which means it can't reproduce. But responsible, accurate use is crucial for safety.

Because UVC damages DNA and RNA, it's also dangerous for humans and other animals. That's why UVC disinfection technologies should be carefully evaluated for safety by experts before being let loose on the public. And that's why our technology is proving o popular. It's proven to work, well designed, practical, affordable and does a fantastic job safely. Unlike the hand-held and at-home devices that keep popping up online.

The dangers of at-home UVC covid disinfection devices
Home UVC lamps can easily damage your skin and eyes. Low quality control means you also risk them simply not doing what they're supposed to do, leaving you in a dangerously vulnerable position with no guarantee you're effectively killing the virus. You might feel safe but you could actually be at great risk.

While UVC does kill the virus, you need the right dose for the right amount of time. Our machines are configured to allow the operator to safely deliver the right dose of light to cater for the unique shape of each room, the shadows it contains, the materials that need to be cleansed, and the timing of the dose. At-home devices simply cannot offer this kind of essential precision.

Other ways to use UVC against covid are being explored
At the moment people around the world are working hard to make the UVC disinfection of personal protective equipment itself more efficient. Others, like us, have developed reliable machines that can be used by medical facilities and businesses, run on clever software that calculates the most effective dose of UVC. We're also hearing news about the eventual potential installation of UVC units in ceilings to decontaminate circulating air in heating, cooling and air exchange systems.

It is clear that, when used properly and responsibly, UVC has enormous potential. The key is to make intelligent, science-led choices around the technologies you use to deliver it. We can help you with that.

You can trust us to provide machinery that works beautifully to disinfect your spaces safely.

UK and California covid variants merge into a ‘heavily mutated hybrid’

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 09:00:02 GMT

Scientists are concerned to discover how the new UK and California covid variants have combined to form a heavily mutated hybrid. The worry is, the mutation could send us spinning into a new, more scary phase of the pandemic.

The two variants have combined their genomes to make a new hybrid version, which was discovered in a Californian virus sample. A blend of the highly transmissible UK B.1.1.7 variant and the Californian B.1.429 variant, experts suspect it lies at the heart of the recent dramatic wave of cases in Los Angeles.

Bette Korber from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico found the combined variant and has also seen “pretty clear” evidence of it in her database of American viral genomes. If the news is confirmed it means this is the pandemic’s first ‘recombinant’ to be detected.

Recombination is different from mutation
Unlike the usual mutations, which drive one change at a time, recombination can result in multiple mutations happening at the same time. Many experts think recombination is how the covid 19 virus came into being in the first place, and it could easily lead to ‘even more dangerous’ variants. Right now nobody knows how dangerous this first ‘recombination event’ might be. It might even prove a one-off.

Why does recombination happen? Because the enzyme that replicates a virus’s genome tends to fall off the strand of RNA it wants to copy, then rejoins where it left off. When the host cell includes two different coronavirus genomes the enzyme jumps from one to the other several times, each time combining different elements of the them.

Worryingly, the variants we’re seeing might have created the raw materials required for recombination to happen, simply because people can be infected by more than one variant at the same time. While there’s no evidence of widespread recombination yet, all coronaviruses recombine eventually. So, in scientific circles, it’s no surprise.

More reasons than ever to get disinfecting with UVC LED virus killing tech
Our UVC LED machines are proven to kill covid 19 as well as a host more coronaviruses including MERS and SARS check the UV calculator on this website we've got a host list with their exposure times. Let’s talk about how together, we can make your premises safe.

How UVC LED lights kill coronavirus efficiently, quickly and cheaply

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 15:14:48 GMT

Tel Aviv University is the latest scientific establishment to test UV LEDs, finding that the technology does an impressive job of killing covid. They even suggest the tech could ultimately be installed into air conditioning units, vacuum systems and water systems as well as being used portably in machines like ours. Here’s the story.

It’s official – The anti-viral power of UV LEDs is proven once more
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have revealed how efficiently, quickly, and cheaply the virus can be killed using ultraviolet light-emitting diodes. They carried out the world’s first piece of research looking into the disinfection efficiency of UV-LED irradiation at different wavelengths or frequencies on a virus in the coronavirus family. The results were published in the November 2020 issue of the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology.

UVC LED saves manpower, saves money, and keeps people safe
The study also threw the difficulties around ordinary disinfection into sharper relief than ever, revealing how disinfecting public transport, sports venues and aircraft using chemical spraying involves a lot of expensive manpower as well as putting the cleaners themselves at risk. Plus, chemicals require time to work.

UVC LED disinfection systems should eventually be able to be installed in ventilation systems and air conditioners, placed so they sterilize the air as it enters and leaves a space. The team found it was “quite simple” to kill the coronavirus using low cost, low energy, widely available LED bulbs that radiate ultraviolet light.

The researchers discovered the 265 - 285 nanometer wavelength was the most effective, taking less than half a minute to destroy more than 99.9% of the coronaviruses present. In a world where 275 nm LED light engines cost a lot less than their 254 nm Flourescent tube counterparts, it’s great news.

Don’t try this at home!
There’s a caveat around safety – please don’t just buy a bunch of 275nm LED UVC bulbs and attempt a DIY job! It’s actually very dangerous to try it yourself at home, since systems must be designed to keep people safe from direct exposure to the light.

Our UVC LED covid disinfecting machines are already out there doing a superb job
It’s great to see even more scientific proof stacking up around UVC LED virus-killing tech. It’s even better to know that more of our machines than ever are out there, helping businesses survive and keeping customers safe from the virus. Would you like to explore the potential with the experts? Please feel free to get in touch.

How to get the most out of your covid vaccination

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 09:00:04 GMT

Did you know that a few basic changes in your behaviour could improve the way your body reacts to covid vaccines, also making you safe faster? Scientists say these factors are so important they might even affect the overall success of the vaccine roll-out. We ignore them at our peril! Here's what New Scientist magazine says.

How to achieve the best immune response to vaccines
Not everyone who gets vaccinated will respond in the same way. Most of us will find our immunity levels slowly climb over a period of weeks, but at the same time a small number of people won't get any immunity at all. Your age, gender, stress levels and even the time of day you get your jab can affect your immune response, including any side effects and how long your immune reaction lasts.

We've known for more than 30 years that stress affects the performance of vaccines. We also know older people who are feeling positive on the day of their flu vaccination tend to experience a better antibody response. Stress can also lead to smoking or drinking more, sleeping less and eating unhealthy foods, all of which can adversely impact a vaccine's success
Sleep matters... a lot. In fact if you get two nights of good quality sleep before your jab, at least 7 hours of it, you get the best immune response several months later. This is the case for the flu jab and it's probable the same goes for the covid jabs
Social support is the antidote to isolation. Even young, healthy people who feel lonely tend to have a worse antibody response after a vaccination than people who enjoy better social support. Simply being married is linked to higher antibody responses to the hepatitis B and flu vaccinations.
Alcohol and jabs don't go well together. The scientists who created the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, say drinking alcohol after your jab can mean the vaccine doesn't work. They recommend not drinking for three days after each jab. The effect of drinking too much alcohol on other vaccines has been proved, and there's no reason why the same shouldn't be the case for the covid vaccines. It looks like binge drinking is a big no-no, even though the UK government hasn't advised against it
Exercise improves our general health as well as helping minimise stress and reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes, both of which can make covid a lot worse. Exercise has been found to 'intimately' impact the body’s ability to build a good response to vaccines in general
The time of day you get the jab might matter. It looks like men vaccinated in the morning have a stronger antibody response than men who got their vaccine in the afternoon, but there was no time of day difference in women, something that might be down to the different hormones that affect the male and female immune system
As a rule women tend to have higher antibody responses to most vaccines than men. We don't know yet if the same goes for covid jabs
Overall vaccine responses fall as you get older, partly because the thymus, where the body's virus-destroying T-cells mature, begins to degrade
There's no evidence that prebiotic and probiotic foods help drive a strong immune response, but gut bacteria could affect our microbiome, which in turn may improve the immune response to vaccinations – the scientists reckon it's too early to say
If you've already had covid, it looks like your natural immunity might last as long as 6 months, giving you a 'fast and effective response' on re-exposure. We don't yet know if this means you also get a better response to the vaccine, and this means you still need a jab even if you've had the virus

How does this stack up with the need to disinfect spaces against covid?
It'd be great if everyone in the country exercised enough, slept well enough, didn't drink too much and so on, but that isn't the way to human cookie crumbles! Our UVC machines are a long term essential for businesses and many other types of organisation that want to keep people safe from covid, even after we've all had our jabs. The fact that we're going to be 'living with covid' for years and years makes our technology even more important for everyone's health and safety in the long run.

UVC covid disinfection and your school, your surgery, your theatre

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 17:37:01 GMT

Right now a group of Conservative politicians is pressuring the government to decide on a firm date for England to come out of lockdown. Scientists are fighting back, saying the government must continue to follow the science, only coming out of lockdown once the virus has been brought under much better control, and then only in a steady, careful, science-informed way.

At the same time more people are starting to acknowledge the inevitable – this virus isn't going to go away any time soon. Increasingly, the word on the streets is we'll need to learn to 'live with it' for years, even decades or generations, in the same way we currently live with the flu.

On the other hand, no matter what some politicians would like to believe, we won't be at the 'living with it' stage by the end of this year, or by any other arbitrary date that those in power would like to set. Things remain fluid, and that's a bad situation because it means businesses can't plan ahead.

Whatever happens at the end of the day, are you prepared for a safe re-opening? Or are you still wondering how on earth to keep your company going and at the same time keep people healthy? Luckily our UVC virus-killing technology provides more than safety, it also delivers an essential level of certainty upon which to build a solid future for your business.

Here are three situations in which our UVC disinfection machines can help you save the day.

UVC covid disinfection and education – Your school
Picture this. It's the start of the school day. You disinfected all the classrooms at the end of the day yesterday, in no time, something that could easily be a horror of a task. Even a large team of skilled cleaners would take hours to achieve the same level of cleanliness, at great expense and inconvenience to the everyday running of the school. Luckily our UVC machines take literally minutes to disinfect an average classroom against covid.

This means, when the first class of the day leaves the room, all you need to do is wheel the UVC machine back into each classroom and swiftly re-disinfect it before the next class begins. You can also disinfect the corridors, toilet facilities and more to help keep surfaces and the air virus-free.

UVC covid disinfection and healthcare – Your surgery
Doctors and dentists depend on a fast turnaround to get everyone seen and treated, as do their patients.
The average GP appointment lasts around 10 minutes, while a dental check-up can take anything from five to twenty minutes. Dental treatment itself can last an hour or more for complex procedures. It simply isn't practical to get cleaning staff in between each patient to disinfect the entire room. Luckily our machines make short work of disinfecting spaces to keep you, your staff and patients, and everyone in the waiting room safe from covid.

UVC covid disinfection and entertainment – Your theatre
Two performances a day isn't too bad... or is it? Surely there's time for a cleaning team to make the premises safe in between your matinee and evening show? On the other hand a theatre or cinema is such a complicated space, with hundreds or even thousands of chairs to disinfect.

Our LED UVC covid disinfection tech is portable and powerful. All you do is choose the right time setting for the space and the machine does its magic, disinfecting every surface the light touches, something that even the most skilled cleaners can't achieve without hours of work. It can also clean the bar area, merchandise area, ticket office and lobby.

Let's talk about the covid disinfection specifics
Would you like to talk to an expert about exactly how our machines will clean your spaces? We're always happy to have a discussion about the potential. Can we help your business thrive in an uncertain world?

Life after covid

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 09:00:02 GMT

Predictions about the future

Have you noticed fewer people, governments and businesses talking about 'getting back to normal'? The progress of the virus is, if anything, less predictable than ever, and experts of many kinds are saying that going back to our pre-virus ways is both impossible and not particularly desirable. Here are some thoughts about what our post-covid future might look like.

Booster jabs hint there's no such thing as 'post-covid'?
The NHS is starting to talk about a third wave of booster jabs this autumn, designed to handle new threats like the South African variant. This is how the world already deals with influenza, giving free flu jabs to the vulnerable every winter, the jab depending on which of the common flu coronaviruses is the most prevalent at the time. We could easily find ourselves having winter covid jabs for the rest of our lives.

Climate change means we can't just go back to normal
Before covid we were entering a desperate climate crisis. We still are, but fortunately the virus has provided an essential breathing space, time for a kind of global awakening. This has allowed humanity to realise it is in fact possible to stop doing what we've been doing quite quickly, and take a different tack. We will be flying less than ever before, taking holidays in our home countries more than ever before, and genuinely promoting renewables over fossil fuels as renewables become ever-more profitable compared to oil, gas and coal.

Working from home is the new normal
Millions of us were forced to work from home during lockdown one, and millions of us have decided it's the best way going forwards. No more getting up at stupid o' clock in the morning for a long and climate-unfriendly commute, what joy! Some of us hate not interacting with our colleagues and customers, but many of us are happier at work than we have ever been before.

The end of air-kissing!
If, like many Brits, you never really felt at ease with air-kissing, being kissed hello and goodbye, even being kissed by people you've never met before, you'll be feeling happier than you did before the virus struck. Even traditional hand-shaking has become far too risky. The new habit of steering mostly clear of strangers, calling 'hello' across six feet of empty space instead of kissing and hugging, is apparently a huge relief to plenty of us. Will it carry over to a post-covid reality? !

Age-related changes to the way we live
The older you are, the less happy you are to take risks around your health as regards covid. Will we eventually see some sort of split society where younger people go out and about more and older people spend more time indoors? Maybe we'll see restaurants, pubs, venues and destinations targeting older people, and others targeting younger customers? Maybe some businesses will welcome in older people on some days, younger people on different days? It's an interesting thought.

Living with animals
This virus, like many others, developed thanks to a dangerous intimacy between humans and animals. The way humanity treats animals has to change. We must treat our fellow creatures with a lot more respect and consideration in future.

Prepared for the next pandemic
32 million people, so far, have died in the ongoing AIDS pandemic. Ebola has a terrifying death rate of more than 80%. The world had a very lucky escape over SARS and MERS, both deadly coronaviruses. Scientists have been warning governments about potential deadly pandemics for decades, but nobody took the warnings seriously. This pandemic was widely predicted, and we did know it could happen. In fact we knew it would happen. Scientists say there will be another pandemic. It's only a matter of time. Hopefully next time we'll be better prepared.

Until then, prepare yourself for the coming covid-19 ride – whatever it might lead to – with our UVC covid disinfection machines, affordable and brilliantly effective. This isn't just a machine, it's actually a life saver and a business saver.

Covid News Digest

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 17:40:35 GMT

The latest Coronavirus news

The pandemic keeps rolling onwards, and the end is still not in sight. Variants are making everything more complex, some nations are facing more waves, and the UK remains one of the worst affected, with many more deaths than most countries. Against this ever-less-certain landscape, our UV covid disinfection light tech is a beacon of hope for an increasing number of businesses determined to survive whatever the virus throws at them. Here's the latest covid news.

AstraZeneca vaccine just 10% effective against the South African variant
The AstraZeneca vaccine is just 10% effective against the South African variant. On the other hand the study in question has not been peer reviewed, so can't be relied on. The review suggests two doses of the Oxford vaccine only delivers 'minimal protection' against mild to moderate B.1.351 infections, but there's no evidence that the vaccine doesn't work against moderate to severe cases.

Because the study didn't involve any severe cases or hospitalisations in either the vaccinated or the placebo group, no reliable conclusions can be drawn from it. Bigger trials of another vaccine that uses the same Virus vector technology showed it could prevent severe disease, and this hints the Oxford vaccine should behave in much the same way.

Paris prepares for the UK variant
Paris is preparing for another wave, this time thanks to the UK variant. Infections from the UK variant are booming in France, increasing by 50% a week. They expect the more transmissible UK variant to become dominant by early March, if not before, and a third lockdown isn't out of the question, like those imposed on the UK itself, Ireland and Portugal.

USA passes the 27 million cases mark
The USA has just passed 27 million covid cases, 25% of all worldwide cases, and reported just under 87,000 new infections. Daily reports of new coronavirus cases just fell below 100,000 for the first time in 2021, and vaccination is rolling out. At the moment hospitalisations are declining as well. The US has reported the lowest daily death toll since the beginning of the year at 1200, bringing the total US deaths to more than 463,000. So far just under 10% of the population has had their first jab. This is all great news but experts are warning it could simply be the 'eye of the hurricane', and people must not relax their vigilance.

Australia's 'ongoing chase'
Australia's Deakin University Chair of Epidemiology Professor Catherine Bennett predicts an 'ongoing chase' between the virus mutating and keeping vaccines up to date. Other scientists agree.

Will the UK hand out third 'booster' jabs?
In the UK we might have to have a third 'booster' jab in 2021 thanks to fears around the effectiveness of the Oxford vaccine against the South African coronavirus variant. The NHS is already making plans for a mass booster campaign against new variants this autumn, and the UK's vaccines minister thinks we might have to do it every year, like we currently do with the flu jab.

Why is the UK covid death rate so high?
The UK’s Covid death rate is very high compared to other countries. We are one of only five countries to surpass 100,000 deaths, along with Brazil, the US, India and Mexico, and our population is much smaller than any of them. New cases and deaths have dropped in London but over 1000 Londoners are on ventilators.

Italy, which suffered terribly at first, has seen less than a third of UK deaths at 27,000. Germany has seen 53,000 deaths so far. Australia has had 909 deaths. Finland and Iceland have only had 600 and 50 deaths respectively. Our rate is so high because:

Our ageing, ethnically diverse population suffers from high levels of obesity
London is a global travel hub
The government has been accused of several decision-making failures including the absence of a test and trace system in spring 2020, not launched until the end of May
The government did not close our borders when the virus was first reported in the UK
Delayed lockdown did not help – lockdown only took place 7 weeks after the virus turned up here
Care home failures thanks to equipment shortages may have contributed to the high death toll, with significant delays in providing adequate PPE to care homes and patients allowed to return home from hospital before having a negative coronavirus test
In August and September schools and universities opened up and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme rolled out, both tipped as the cause of many more infections
The more people are infected, the more chance there is of a new variant appearing – hence the new UK variant

Let's talk UVC
You want to make your place safe for the public, for your customers, for business? Our UCV light is proven to kill off this coronavirus as well as many other very dangerous coronaviruses including Ebola, SARS and MERS. Would you like to know more about it? Give us a call, we'll be pleased to show off its brilliant potential as a business-saver and life-saver.

New vaccines and the impact of your first jab…

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 22:57:56 GMT

Are you safe?

There's more good news around covid with the release of another new coronavirus vaccine, this time developed by the North American company Novavax. Better still, it's 89% effective in preventing the UK variant of the virus in phase three clinical trials. We report on that below. There's more. What if you've had your first jab of the vaccinations that are currently available? Are you safe after the first injection? Here's what you need to know.

A new vaccine from the USA
The new vaccine from Novavax comes in two doses, but unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine it stays stable in an ordinary fridge for as long as three months. The UK has ordered 60 million doses of the vaccine to be manufactured up in the north east, on Teesside. As long as it's approved by the regulators, it should be available some time during the second half of this year. The vaccine offers 86% protection against the new UK variant and is 96% effective against the original variant.

Scientists continue to worry about whether the current vaccines we have will work as well against the South African variant of the virus, and the one that popped up in Brazil. Novavaxis already starting work on another new vaccine to target the South African variant.

Are you safe after your first covid jab?
In the UK over 7 million people have had their first jab. Most will have to wait about three months before they get the second dose. If that's you, how safe are you in the meantime?

Are you OK to go back to normal once you've had one dose of a coronavirus vaccine? The short answer is no. In fact one expert, Danny Altman, from Imperial College London, says over-confidence could be fatal. In his words, “Don’t for a moment imagine you are safe. That would be a horrific thing to do. You absolutely can’t remotely modify your behaviour until well after your second dose.”

Here's why:

It takes at least 2-3 weeks for the first jab to start protecting you
It isn’t clear how much protection a single dose of any vaccine provides, simply because the trials done so far didn't look into it
No vaccine provides complete protection, even after two doses
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines come with a 1 in 20 chance of getting symptomatic infections
The AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford vaccine leaves as many as 1 in 3 people still vulnerable
Your risk of catching the virus still depends on how likely you are to be exposed to it – and the infection rates in the UK are still at a record-breaking high, worse than any other country in the world. This leaves us all at more risk now than we were last year
If you catch covid despite being vaccinated, you can still get seriously ill and die
10 to 20% of infected people also get long covid which, for all we know, could last a lifetime
You can probably still infect other people even when you've been vaccinated. Nobody knows whether vaccinated people can still get asymptomatic infections and pass the disease on, but the little evidence we have so far says this is likely
The B.1.351 and P.1 variants from South Africa and Brazil can partly avoid the body's immune response, so the current vaccines we have might not be as effective against them

The bottom line?
After vaccination, you can still be infectious without realising it. That means we all need to take the same precautions until most people have been vaccinated. While you can, for example, see your elderly relatives once you’ve all been vaccinated, you’d still want to take sensible precautions.

We don't know how much protection you get after a single dose of a vaccine. The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation says that after the initial three week period following the first jab, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine prevented 90% of symptomatic infections and the Oxford/AstraZeneca comes in at 70%. This is why the UK has decided to delay second doses to give more people the first one.
But because we really need more data to prove the theory, it makes sense to stay safe until we know for sure.

Studies are underway. In the meantime there's no end in sight, and the future we eventually find ourselves in will probably look very different from the old world. Invest in our UVC light tech and keep people safe by killing off the coronavirus and many more nasty viruses. It's a business-saver as well as a life-saver!

The unintended consequences of covid…

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:41:58 GMT

Flu plummets worldwide.

Influenza, usually called the flu, is a serious respiratory infection caused by coronaviruses. It can be very nasty, leaving you feeling profoundly weak and exhausted, and can lead to serious health complications and even death. No wonder the NHS offers free flu vaccinations to vulnerable people every year.

Early on in the pandemic, experts were very worried that the annual flu season would blend with covid to create a perfect storm of horror, with many more flu deaths as well as a surge in covid fatalities. Fortunately it hasn't happened. It looks a lot like the precautions we've all been taking against covid have also protected us from the flu this season. Right now incidences of the flu in the UK are at an all-time low. In fact some claim the flu virus has more or less disappeared this winter.

UK enjoys the lowest levels of flu for 130 years
 As The Times and Sunday Times have confirmed, the number of people suffering from the flu has plummeted by 95%, leaving flu at the lowest levels for over 130 years. In the words of Simon de Lisignan, a professor of primary care at the University of Oxford and Director of the Royal College of GPs flu research and surveillance centre, the flu has been “almost completely wiped out”.

Week 2 January usually marks the grim peak of the annual flu season. This year we've seen a mere 1.1 per 100,000 people reporting flu-like illnesses to the NHS compared to the five year average of 27 per 100,000.

Of four million patients at 392 English GP surgeries, just 42 or 0.001% had a flu-like illness. The same goes for the USA. North America is also reporting 'unusually low' flu cases for the time of year, despite the fact that the nation has many more anti-maskers than here in the UK. Some are calling the drop a record-setting low, because the flu virus is not circulating in the population the way it usually does. Senior scientists who've been monitoring the flu since the 1990s have never seen anything like it.

Why the drop in flu cases shouldn't be a surprise
Just like covid, the flu is spread between people. If you steer clear of people it's very unlikely you'll catch it. While the flu season is far from over, the planet's flu activity maps already look very different compared to 2020. It shouldn't be a surprise really, since the flu virus spreads via respiratory droplets, similar to the new coronavirus. Because people are wearing masks, being socially distant and washing their hands more frequently, the flu is unable to get a toe-hold in the population.

There's more. Pre-covid, someone with flu wouldn't necessarily feel they had to stay home and steer clear of people. Flu sufferers with symptoms would often carry on regardless, only taking to their beds when they became too poorly to keep going. Covid has changed all that, and changed it profoundly. These days, if we feel symptoms we tend to stay in. As one doctor said, “In normal years, people who are symptomatic do not typically feel the same need to stay home.”

Children are usually influenza's best friend
The major contributor to every ordinary annual flu epidemic is children, who are particularly contagious because they make more influenza virus than adults, then go around shedding it for longer. The pandemic has meant this has stopped in its tracks, with our children either learning at home, or wearing masks and social distancing at school.

Will we beat the flu in years to come?
Almost a year of mask-wearing and many people feel it's the new normal. Plenty of us say we'll carry on wearing face masks into the future, even when we've all been vaccinated. And that could mean an end to the great annual flu epidemics that raged around the world, previously treated as a perfectly normal part of everyday life. The new habits we're developing could lessen flu hospitalisations and deaths in years to come, but only if enough of us keep wearing masks and keep on social distancing in future flu seasons.

Beating flu and the Covid coronavirus with pure UVC light
Our UVC light tech is proven to kill off coronaviruses including those that cause flu, the common cold, covid, ebola, SARS, MERS and many more. Our machines offer a reliable way to help you keep your customers safe, keep your employees safe, and keep your business open while we beat this thing.

UV disinfection is growing fast…

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 06:30:01 GMT

and a positive mood enhances vaccines.

This week there's some fascinating insight about the predicted future of the UV disinfection market, which is set to grow dramatically over the next few years. We're going to have to change our approach in line with the virus as it mutates, and mutations mean it's more important than ever to stop the spread. Plus there's remarkable news about mood. Apparently a positive mood and enjoyable interactions with friends can boost the impact of vaccines to an impressive degree. So don't worry – be happy! Here's the news.

Massive growth predicted for the UV disinfection market
A new report highlights how the UV Disinfection Equipment Market is predicted to grow exponentially between now and 2027, thanks to the virus as well as growing climate change-led concerns around safe drinking water in developing nations. The rise in demand for UVC lamps that treat the air and surfaces is at an all-time high.
 In 2019 the Ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection Equipment Market was worth around $1.3 billion. It is likely to reach $5.7 billion by 2027. As the report says, 'Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection is a non-chemical process whereby a pathogen, within a liquid or gaseous medium or on a surface, is exposed to a dosage of ultraviolet radiation near the peak of germicidal effectiveness to deactivate pathogen's DNA, such that the pathogen is unable to reproduce.'

'According to a leading manufacturer of UV disinfection equipment, the demand for UV disinfection equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic has been increased by nearly 1,000%. This is due to growing demand from commercial sectors such as hospitals, offices, and hotels & restaurants for surface disinfection and air treatment purposes.'

Changing our approach to the coronavirus
As New Scientist magazine says, 'the emergence of new variants with different properties has changed the rules of engagement'. A faster-spreading virus means more infections, and that means more deaths. In a worst case scenario, if a mutation arises that lets the virus escape our immune systems, it could re-infect people who have already had covid, which would mean we'd need tweaked or new vaccines. And while vaccines are a way out but they're also a slow solution, with billions of humans across the planet to vaccinate.

According to the scientists, only one thing remains certain. The only way to stop the virus from evolving into something nastier is to stop it from spreading, and that means steering as clear as we can of each other until the risk reduces enough to relax.

How a positive mood plus good friends boosts your response to vaccines
It's a science thing. When you feel positive, and enjoy positive social interactions, both of these simple psychological factors influence how you react to vaccines. The theory is supported to a multitude of studies and research projects that reveal how a positive mindset really does affect human health.

Back in 2006 one study proved how people who described themselves as energetic, cheerful or relaxed 'produced a 73 per cent greater antibody response to vaccination against the virally transmitted disease hepatitis B than those who regarded themselves as more nervous, tense or angry.' Since then the same effect has been found again and again.

Did you know your mood on the day of your vaccination can make a difference? It looks like your mood and outlook is much more important to immunity than things like sleep and exercise, neither of which had the same effect. There's even been a noticeable boost in antibodies after a flu vaccination for people in happy personal relationships, married or otherwise.

In fact the research proves that, on a biological level, things like kindness, optimism and social inclusion can all switch the genes in your immune system away from a dangerous inflammatory response to a response that actually fights viruses.

How about the covid vaccine? Apparently there's 'reasonably consistent evidence' that these simple psychological factors will affect antibody response in the same positive way as it does with any other vaccine.

Disinfect, keep people safe, protect your business
It's clear we probably face at least another half year of restrictions of various kinds and degrees, while the world rolls out a host of vaccination programmes. We could end up in the same situation a year down the line. Nobody knows. Luckily we do know one thing: our UV light tech damages coronaviruses so badly they can't reproduce, which stops them in their tracks. To introduce a level of certainty back into your business, you can use our portable, affordable, proven UVC disinfection technology to keep your employees and customers safe. Give us a call or email us for a chat to find out more.

Latest News…

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:24:35 GMT

Our covid UVC disinfection tech attracts a research funding award.

You don't get research funding unless there's a very good reason, so we're thrilled to announce we've successfully applied for a research funding grant.

The project has been funded by an innovation voucher from EIRA, a £4.7 million initiative from Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund. It aims to increase growth and productivity by transforming the way businesses connect with universities and colleges through a knowledge exchange network. You can find out more about EIRA here: www.eira.ac.uk.

A scientific report designed to underpin ongoing product development
We've approached Dr Gary Rowley, UEA Associate Professor of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Metabolism, to provide an Opinion Report to highlight the antimicrobial potential of UV-C based technologies including the bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic properties that the technology elicits, and the molecular and cellular impact UV-C has on a range of microorganisms.

The resulting report will underpin a number of innovative Cool-Tech product developments and enhancements which are currently under discussion.

The University of East Anglia is the leading EIRA institution for biotechnology, helping businesses find solutions to their challenges via world-class research and leading academics. The university has an excellent track record in successful collaboration with businesses of every size, ranked in the top 15 UK universities and a member of the top 200 universities in the world. According to the most recent Research Excellence Framework, more than 80% of the university's research was classed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

Why does the science matter?
Our machines are driven by science, and always have been. It's our aim to keep our already-proven UVC disinfection technology at the forefront of science, making certain we keep pace as the pandemic unfolds. Science underpins everything we do, and our brand's reputation sits on a firm scientific basis. We want it to stay that way, continually maximising the effectiveness of the machines we make by pinning down the latest science and applying it back to our products.

Can we help your business survive and even thrive in covid times?