27 August 2008 may prove to be a pivotal point in mankind's war against the much-feared bird flu pandemic. On that day, Sharp Corporation unveiled its latest technological weapon against the unseen enemy! 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 eliminating 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 and deadly virus goes global, in a very negative sense. 50 million people may die in a global pandemic. No way, you say. But its happened before, during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic! 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.
If fear is gripping you right now, is it time to PANIC?
Not now. WHO statistics (updated up to 10 Sep 2008) tracing back to 1996 when the H5N1 virus first surfaced in China shows a relatively low death toll of 245. 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 I write, there has been only one probable case of human-to-human transmission recorded in Thailand in September 2004. Should the dreaded virus mutation take place, you can expect pandemonium on a global scale.
Like other countries, Singapore (where I live) is conscientiously preparing for the worse (more on this in a later post). At the individual level, we should start making preparations 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? That's what Sharp is claiming, get the all-in-one package with their Plasmacluster Ion Air Purifier.
Obviously, for the value-conscious, the next logical question would be “yes, that makes a whole lot of sense but at what cost”? No extra cost, Sharp claims! They go so far as to say it may in fact be cheaper than any other ordinary 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.
I would greatly appreciate any feedback on both sets of numbers above. Just email me if you have actual numbers.
My next step will be to learn as much as I can about the Sharp Plasmacluster Ion Technology. Now is the time to research, while bird flu is still not quite at pandemic proportions.
Join me in my quest. Experience is a good teacher. I remember my family, along with thousands of other frantic people, scrambling around town looking for the much-touted N95 face mask when the last near-pandemic scare took place in Asia. The year was 2003. SARS was a much dreaded acronym. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus started spreading 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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