According to NIAID 2001 (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) data, nearly 63,730 deaths occur every year in USA due to influenza and pneumonia. The toll touches 20,000 for flu. The figure is alarming in other countries in the world too. In a bid to fight influenza-related diseases, the scientists are now exploiting nanotechnology.
The researchers at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York have developed a nanoscale device, known as Nanocavity, which can detect influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, bird flu and other threatening viruses.
Nanocavity is a tiny senor device featuring a hexagonal array of tiny cavities. Each cavity is measured 240 nanometers in diameter and occupies a sensing area of 40 micrometers square. The sensor device has the ability to detect on quadrillionth of a gram of biological matter or about the size of certain viruses.
Explaining the Nanocavity, Philippe Fauchet of Rochester University says,
When a virus within a certain size range is caught in one of the nanocavities, the sensor transmits a light spectrum that is slightly different than the spectrum it transmits when no particles are present. We can then compare the two spectra to determine whether the target particle was captured, which forms the basis for a very simple yet powerful biosensor that could be used by untrained personnel, such as front-line health care providers.
The senor device is categorized into two major heads, two-dimensional photonic crystal and one dimensional silicon-based photonic crystal. The two-dimensional photonic crystal prompts photons to work in a similar way as a semiconductor prompts electrons to act. Where as, the one dimensional photonic crystal is very thin in nature and used to detect DNA, proteins and bacteria.
The research team has very successfully tested the device, which in the near future will be highly useful for mankind to fight influenza-related diseases.
Via: Physorg
H5N1 avian flu: Spread by drinking water into small clusters:
Human to human and contact transmission of influenza occur - but are overvalued immense. In the course of Influenza epidemics in Germany recognized clusters are rarely (9% of the cases in the season 2005).
In temperate climates the lethal H5N1 avian flu virus will be transferred to humans strong seasonal in the cold via cold drinking water, as with the birds feb/mar 2006.
Recent research must worry: So far the virus had to reach the bronchi and the lungs in order to infect humans. Now it infects the upper respiratory system (mucous membranes of the throat e.g. when drinking and mucous membranes of the nose and probably also the conjunctiva of the eyes as well as the eardrum e.g. at showering). In a few cases (Viet Nam, Thailand) stomach and intestine by the H5N1 virus were stricken but not the bronchi and the lungs. The virus might been orally taken up, e.g. when drinking contaminated water.
The performance to eliminate viruses of the drinking water processing plants in Germany regularly does not meet the requirements of the WHO and the USA/USEPA. Conventional disinfection procedures are poor, because microorganisms in the water are not in suspension, but embedded in particles. Even ground water used for drinking water is not free from viruses.
In temperate climates the strong seasonal waterborne infections like norovirus, rotavirus, salmonellae, campylobacter and - differing from the usual dogma - influenza are mainly triggered by drinking water dependent on the drinking water temperature (in Germany minimum feb/mar – maximum august). There is no evidence that influenza primary is transmitted by saliva droplets. In temperate climates the strong interdependence between influenza infections and environmental temperatures can’t be explained with the primary biotic transmission by saliva droplets from human to human with temperatures of 37.5°C. There must be an abiotic vehicle like cold drinking water. There is no other appropriate abiotic vehicle. In Germany about 98% of inhabitants have a central public water supply with older and better protected water. Therefore in Germany cold water is decisive to virulence of viruses.
In hot climates/tropics the flood-related influenza is typical after extreme weather and natural after floods. Virulence of Influenza virus depends on temperature and time. If young and fresh H5N1 contaminated water from low local wells, cisterns, tanks, rain barrels or rice fields is used for water supply water temperature for infection may be higher as in temperate climates.
Dipl.-Ing. Wilfried Soddemann
eMail soddemann-aachen@t-online.de
http://www.dugi-ev.de/information.html
Epidemiological Analysis:
http://www.dugi-ev.de/TW_INFEKTIONEN_H5N1_20071019.pdf
