The Device That Could Stop The Next Pandemic

Source: The Medium, Will Lockett
Photo: engin akyurt on Unsplash

A recent study points to a massive medical breakthrough.

In 2020 we got a rude awakening when we discovered just how fragile humanity is. Despite our mind-bending technology and next-gen medicine a simple Coronavirus turned our world upside down, grinding everything to a halt, killing millions and leaving even more with long term fatigue. But this chapter of history isn’t behind us yet. A combination of booming populations and climate change makes global pandemics far more likely. Another Covid could be just over the hill. So how can we defend ourselves? Well, a recent study may have found the perfect defence, a little device that literally zaps pathogens out of the air.

Before we look at this device we need to understand how pathogens like Covid19 can spread so easily in modern society. The problem is that we love being indoors.

Indoor spaces have little ventilation, natural light and have stable humidity. These are perfect conditions for pathogens to thrive in for hours at a time. So if someone with Covid19 coughs indoors the millions of viruses they spew out hang around in that space for far longer than they would if they are outdoors, meaning far more people are likely to be infected. Data backs this up as most people seemed to catch Covid in indoor settings. This is why Covid spread rapidly through households, care homes, schools, offices, public transport and even hospitals (though less so due to measures).

What we need is something inexpensive that can kill off pathogens effectively without harming us humans. It turns out this is very difficult.
For example, we could periodically use chemical sprays to douse these indoor spaces, but this would be very costly and could cause irritation or full-on damage to us. Imagine being in an office all day with Covid19 killing alcohol being spayed about constantly. It would be hell.
Another alternative is UV sterilisation, which is far cheaper and more sustainable. UV breaks the bonds in DNA, effectively shredding them to bits. Unsurprisingly this kills any pathogen quite quickly, so if we install powerful UV lights inside buildings, we can easily keep pathogens at bay.

But UV is just as effective at killing our cells as it is pathogens. In fact, Sunburn is just UV burn and every time we get Sunburnt we massively increase our risk of skin cancer, particularly if you are as pale as me. So using UV to sterilise indoors constantly isn’t a sensible idea. You may end up with a great tan, but everyone would get skin cancer sooner or later.

However, there is more than one type of UV. UVA and UVB have larger wavelengths and they are responsible for the majority of DNA damage in humans. But there is UVC with higher wavelengths. For a number of reasons, like bond resonant frequency and penetrations depths, UVC does less damage to human cells than UVA or UVB.

A recent study decided to see if they can use this to their advantage. They took a ‘far UVC’ lightbulb with wavelengths so small they are nearly X-rays and shone it on pathogens and human skin. What they found was remarkable. This type of light killed 98% of airborne pathogens while not damaging human skin at all!

What these scientists have found seems to be the perfect weapon against pandemics. A cheap to run device that kills almost all airborne pathogens without damaging human health. This would seem like something out of science fiction only a few years ago, but it is true. We can now make any indoor space safe from deadly contagions.

It is easy to picture a future where far UVC devices are mounted inside every bus, train, school, hospital, taxi, office and even house the next time a pandemic rears its ugly head. We could even have our own personal far UVC emitting device that we carry with us.

If you combine this technology with medical-grade masks, ventilation simulations and fast turnaround mRNA vaccines, suddenly humanity seems far better prepared to deal with a pandemic than before.

So could we stop the next pandemic in its tracks with far UVC devices?

It remains to be seen. We have only just discovered how to use UVC in this way and further tests are needed before they get rolled out to the public to use. After all, there still may be some side effects we need to know about, but the initial tests look very promising.

Humanity has coped with some incredible hardships over the millennia, from natural disasters to genocidal wars and a vast array of pandemics. But each time we develop, adapt and change for the better. That’s what it means to be human, to learn and grow. It’s why we live in such a technologically rich world. But technologies like far UVC could save your and my life in the not so distant future. Let’s hope it is enough to stop the next Covid.

https://medium.com/predict/the-device-that-could-stop-the-next-pandemic