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The coronavirus is more harmful than previously thought.
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Infection rates continue to rise and put the economy in danger.
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High-performance air purifiers from Trotec inspire hope in the fight against the virus.
How dangerous the coronavirus is for infected people is currently the subject of fierce controversy and debate. While tens of thousands took to the streets in Berlin at the weekend to protest against the Corona measures, a recent study from Italy describes the side effects and consequences of a Corona infection. According to this study, the COVID-19 pathogen does not only affect the respiratory tract as initially assumed. An infection can damage almost all vital organs, including the lungs, the heart, and also the brain. The neurological consequences of infection with the coronavirus range from frequent olfactory and taste disorders to neurological secondary diseases such as brain damage and strokes. The study was published in the journal “JAMA“.
NEURO-COVID: neurological complications, even in healthy young people
It is particularly worrying that these symptoms also occur in young, “vascularly healthy” patients without risk factors. Until now, only people over 65 years of age with various pre-existing conditions were considered to be particularly at risk. Based on these new observations, international experts already speak of “Neuro-COVID”. According to a study by the Charité hospital in Berlin, this could be due to the body’s own immune system. Studies seem to show that the immune system of critically ill COVID-19 patients can target the body’s own cells. However, the researchers at the Charité cannot yet explain why this happens. “Not all pathomechanisms that lead to neurological involvement in COVID-19 patients have yet been clarified,” explains Professor Dr. Peter Berlit, Secretary General of the German Society of Neurology (Deutsch Gesellschaft für Neurologie; DGN).
What do these new findings mean for our everyday life?
It is a misconception to think that COVID-19 is less dangerous than an influenza infection. As long as there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 disease, the basic goal for companies, schools, authorities and public institutions must be to minimize the risk of infection in enclosed spaces. This is because almost 80 percent of all corona infections occur via droplets and infectious aerosols in unfiltered room air.
The risk of a Corona infection is floating invisibly in the room
Virus-containing microdroplets, and even more miniscule aerosols, are considered the main carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Aerosols are a mixture comprised of gas (usually air) and solid or liquid constituents, which contain viruses in infected persons. These tiny floating particles are produced in the lungs and released into the air mainly when breathing and speaking. While larger droplets fall to the floor after approx. 1.5 metres due to their weight (hence the social distancing rule of 1.5 m), infectious aerosol particles can remain suspended due to their small size (approx. 0.3-0.4 µm) for several hours in the air, where they are circulated around the room by the ventilation system and unwittingly breathed in – even many meters away.
Suitable protective masks, such as 3-layer face masks or the Trotec Germany, protect against droplet infection, but not against the tiny aerosols.
Researchers suppose: technological air purification more effective than window ventilation
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs recommends regular ventilation to protect against inhalation. This is because – in contrast to the open air, where aerosol mixtures are diluted and replaced with fresh air by the air motion – the aerosol concentration remains continually high in enclosed spaces. However, permanent window ventilation at the workplace is not always possible for noise reasons alone – not to mention the energy considerations. In addition, a new study by Prof. Dr. Martin Kriegel, head of the Hermann Rietschel Institute at the TU Berlin, shows that window ventilation alone is often not enough to ensure sufficient air exchange in closed rooms.
TAC V+ high-performance air purification protects against the inhalation of viral aerosols
The aim in highly frequented areas must therefore be to dilute and filter out infectious aerosol mixtures before they are inhaled. And this is possible with the help of the TAC V+ high-performance air purifier from Trotec, a fact that has now been corroborated by a recent study carried out by an institute for fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. Put simply, the TAC V+ air purifier with its filter brings the outdoor air condition indoors, and supplements this by a highly efficient virus filtration and inactivation. Aerosols containing viruses are diluted and filtered out in the air immediately after their release so that they do not spread across the room and are not inhaled.
Scientists confirm TAC V+ the air purifier as a highly effective aerosol filtration device with outstanding filter properties
How exactly aerosols spread in the room air after exhalation and how effectively the TAC V+ high-performance air purifier protects against the inhalation of sometimes infectious aerosols in the room air was investigated independently by three institutes.
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), a special laser measurement technique, was used to visualize the propagation speed of aerosols produced when breathing and speaking, but also when coughing, sneezing or singing. In addition, qualification measurements were used to investigate how quickly infectious aerosol mixtures are filtered from the room air by the TAC V+ are high-performance air purification system and inactivated in the unit’s HEPA particulate filter.
The results of the investigation show that the combination of the very high air throughput and the new HEPA high-performance filter makes it possible to achieve a previously unattained high level of protection, which reduces the risk of infection via the room air to almost zero.
The air filtration concept behind the TAC V+ high-performance air purifier is based on two pillars:
High air capacity (air exchange up to 20 times per hour)
On the one hand, the aerosol concentration in the room air is continuously diluted with virus-filtered HEPA ultrapure air. To this end, the purifier has a high ultrapure air capacity – previously unmatched in mobile devices – which enables an air exchange rate of up to 20 times per hour. The suction of contaminated room air close to the floor creates a uniform flow field, so that even air from more distant areas is efficiently sucked in and purified. The clean air released by the TAC V+ is discharged vertically to the ceiling so that people do not find it unpleasant. A significant reduction (dilution) of the aerosol concentration in the room air can be observed just a few minutes after the high-performance air purifier is put into operation.
High filter performance (99.995 % separation efficiency)
In addition, airborne viruses and bacteria are first separated in an innovative, heat-resistant HEPA particulate filter and then cyclically killed off by thermal decontamination. The thermal filter decontamination demonstrably reduces the pressure loss of the integrated H14 HEPA filter and thus ensures a constantly high filter performance. This special Protection Class 14 filter, developed exclusively by Trotec, features a separation efficiency of 99.995 % for particle sizes down to a diameter of 0.3 µm. Even permanently high aerosol concentrations in the room air did not lead to a reduction in filter performance. Thanks to these features, H14 high-performance filters are even used to produce clean air in operating theatres and in similar hygiene-sensitive areas.
A safe investment in health and productivity
The TAC V+ high-performance air purifier enables a safe and uncomplicated return to normality in daily interaction – despite corona. The high performance air purifier can effectively protect against aerogenic infection with influenza viruses during the annually recurring waves of influenza too. The comparatively low investment costs are offset by the advantages of having the highest possible protection against infection. In addition, the downtime of sick employees at the workplace is reduced.
The TAC V+ mobile air purifier is available in several colour and equipment variants in the Trotec shop, as well as at the Trotec store in Heinsberg.
Visit us at the Trotec store in Heinsberg
If you would like to find out more about the new TAC V+ air purification technology, please visit us at our Trotec store in Heinsberg. Here you can find out first-hand how the risk of infection with Corona can be reduced to almost zero by using the TAC V+.
Trotec STORE
Grebbener Straße 7
52525 Heinsberg
Germany
Tel. +49 2452 962-400
E-Mail: store.heinsberg@trotec.com
