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.
Every now and then, the press reminds us that bird flu is the prime suspect to cause mankind's next pandemic. Pandemic does not just sound terrifying. It is. That’s when a highly contagious virus goes global, in a very negative sense. The 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 50 million people worldwide is the worst pandemic in human history! That was blamed on the H1N1 virus which was only recently confirmed on 5 October 2005 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a bird flu virus.
Red Alert! Time to PANIC?
Not just yet. Statistically, as recorded by WHO as at 10 Sep 2008, "only" 245 people have died from the H5N1 virus. This is since 1996 when the virus first surfaced in China. So what’s the fuss? Scientists monitoring the virus fear that it may mutate into a form that transmits from human to human. To the knowledge of WHO, there has been only one probable case of human-to-human transmission recorded in Thailand in September 2004. But if (it seems the virus has not reached the “when” stage) the dreaded virus mutation takes place, you can expect pandemonium on a global scale.
With increasing momentum. many countries are conscientiously preparing for the worse (more on this in a later post). At our individual level, 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? It is ordinary in that it performs the usual functions of the run-of-the-mill air purifier by getting rid of dust, dirt, smoke, dander, pollen, cuisine and pet odours, pollutants, allergens etc. But if we can get protection from all these and more in one ionic air purifier, especially one that is a tested defense shield against a potentially deadly virus, why not? With Sharp's Plasmacluster Ion Air Purifier, the whole complete package is promised.
The next obvious question for the value-conscious, would be “yes, that makes a whole lot of sense but at what cost”? Sharp claims that it's at no extra cost! Sharp contends that it is cheaper than any other ordinary ionic air purifier when measured over 5 years. Now, that’s value for money! But, how is this possible in this nothing-is-for-free world?
With the Plasmacluster Ionic Air Purifier Model FP-N40CX as the basis, Sharp contends that it is great value for money as there is no filter replacement costs for the first 5 years. At first sight, the typical competitor's upfront cost of US$160 looks cheap compared to Sharp's US$399. But add in the annual replacement filter replacement costs of US$100 and the total outlay for the competing ionic air purifier comes to US$560.
If you have relevant data, be it on Sharp or the competitors, I would greatly appreciate your input. Do let me know if you have recent actual data.
Meanwhile, I’m going to seriously investigate this Sharp Plasmacluster IonTechnology. Now is the time to research, while bird flu is still not quite at pandemic proportions.
Today is the day to get started. Fear etches itself deep in my psyche. It was like a horror movie that ran for months. Paranoia abounded in crowded places even as people commuted to work on buses and MRT trains. Taxis cruised empty as stories were told of the infected travelling in them to hospital. It was near pandemonium in many Asian cities as pandemic fears took hold. In case you have not heard, the year was 2003. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus originated in Asia and infected 8,096 people around the world, resulting in 774 fatalities. As always, being 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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