British scientists have developed a unique air purifier, now patented in 36 jurisdictions around the world, which according to independent research can kill the viruses H1N1 Swine Flu and H5N1 Bird Flu within minutes in any room or other enclosed space. It is also effective against the MRSA ‘superbug’ and other airborne bacteria and viruses: Tri-Air Developments

The technology is not a filtration process: the unit uniquely combines three different methods of decontamination to simulate the natural purification properties of fresh air, creating the cleansing hydroxyl radicals that occur outdoors. The technology ‘scrubs’ the air clean of airborne viruses and bacteria, and is also effective against those on surfaces – which would help protect against hospital acquired infections and shield offices, homes and public spaces from flu virus.

The technology has been tested by the UK’s Health Protection Agency for its ability to kill both airborne and surface bacteria and viruses, and was shown to be 99.999 per cent effective in killing an airborne test Staphylococcus of the same genus as MRSA in less than two minutes. It significantly reduces airborne spores similar to C. difficile in one hour (reference: UK HPA Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Porton Down, Sep 24, 2007).

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Scientists in Brazil say they have isolated and identified a new strain of the A(H1N1) swine flu virus from a patient who was hospitalized in São Paulo in April and who has since made a complete recovery. The scientists don’t know if the new strain causes more severe infections. The new strain came from a sample isolated from a 26-year old São Paulo man who started to have symptoms of flu shortly after returning from Mexico. He was hospitalized on 24 April and has since made a full recovery. While in hospital the patient gave a sample for analysis.

A team at the Instituto Adolfo Lutz in São Paulo, led by virologist Dr Terezinha Maria de Paiva, isolated the new strain, A/São Paulo/1454/H1N1, from this sample at the end of April.

Using electron microscopes, another team at Instituto Adolfo Lutz, led by Cecília Luiza Simões, looked at nucleotide sequences in the new strain.

They looked in particular at segments number 4 and 7. Segment 4 codes for the protein Hemagglutinin (HA) which is responsible for virus infectivity and triggers the production of antibodies in the human immune system. Segment 7 codes for the matrix proteins (MP) M1 and M2, which help the virus to develop and maintain its structure.

When they compared segment 4 and segment 7 of the new A/São Paulo/1454/H1N1 strain against the novel swine flu reference strain A/Califórnia/04/H1N1 they found that segment 7 appeared to be “completely conserved” while segment 4 showed a number of discrete alterations in nucleotide and amino acid sequences.

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