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Hyper-advanced Ionic Air Purifier – Plasmacluster Ions vs Bird Flu Virus

On 27 August 2008, Sharp Corporation issued a press release that may someday be recognised as the true beginning of mankind’s war against bird flu! Incorporated in its ionic air purifier, the Plasmacluster Ion Technology (more on this in a later post) has just been scientifically proven to be 99.9% effective in destroying the bird flu virus known as H5N1.

As we have been constantly reminded by the press, bird flu is the prime suspect to cause mankind’s next pandemic. Pandemic sounds terrifying. It is. That’s when a highly contagious virus goes global, in a very negative sense. In 1918, an invisible bug is believed to have wiped out 50 million people during the Spanish Flu pandemic! That deadly killer flu was confirmed on 5 October 2005 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be caused by H1N1, a bird flu virus.

Do I have your attention now? Is it time to PANIC?

Not now. “Only” 245 people infected by the H5N1 virus, as per WHO data as at 10 Sep 2008, have died since 1996 when it first surfaced in China. So what’s the fuss? The greatest nightmare for scientists monitoring the bird flu virus is to see it attain human-to-human transmission capability. As of now, there has been only one probable case of human-to-human transmission recorded in Thailand in September 2004. If indeed the much-feared virus mutation takes place, you can expect pandemonium on a global scale.

Quietly but conscientiously, many countries are preparing for the worse (more on this in a later post). As protectors of our families and loved ones, we should start doing some homework too.

Ok, so what’s all this got to do with Sharp’s ionic air purifier. Is it not just another ordinary ionic air purifier? Yes, it’s ordinary in that it takes care of the usual stuff that we look for in an air purifier – dust, dirt, smoke, dander, pollen, cuisine and pet odours, pollutants, allergens etc. If there is really a tested defence shield against a deadly virus, why not? And that is precisely what Sharp is telling us; get the whole package with their Plasmacluster Ion Technology.

If you’re value-conscious like me, the obvious question would be “yes, that makes a whole lot of sense but at what cost”? Per Sharp, not a penny more! Sharp contends that it is cheaper than any other competing ionic air purifier when measured over 5 years. Wow, value for money sure gets my attention! But, how is this possible in this nothing-is-for-free world?

Well, in promotional materials, using the Plasmacluster Ionic Air Purifier Model FP-N40CX as the basis, Sharp contends that it is much better value for money as there is no filter replacement costs for the first 5 years. Upfront costs at US$399 for the Sharp model is higher than the typical competitor’s US$160. But the latter requires annual filter replacement costs of US$100, adding to a total cost of US$560 over 5 years.

Since I have only started on this study, I would greatly appreciate any feedback on the numbers quoted by Sharp. Just email me if you have actual numbers.

My next move would be to seriously investigate the Sharp Plasmacluster Ion Technology. The time to research is now, while bird flu is still not quite at pandemic proportions.

Don’t procrastinate. I know. Imagine thousands of frantic people going from drugstore to drugstore looking for the same face mask. The N95 mask was touted as the only effective weapon as a near-pandemic scare gripped Asia. SARS! Four letters that struck terror in Asia. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus started spreading from Asia, infected 8,096 people around the world, resulting in 774 fatalities. Being well prepared is half the battle won.

Watch this space as we track exciting developments in our pursuit of safe, pure and clean air with nothing more than an ionic air purifier.

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