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Sonovia Antimicrobial Fabrics Will Be Going into New Cars

AHA Publisher — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 08:00:31 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – The pandemic has many people wary of riding in a car in close quarters with others’ germs. Soon, many makes of automobiles will be furnished with antimicrobial textiles from Israel’s Sonovia Tech. During a recent visit to Israel, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi de Mayo announced that the Adler Group, a tier 1 producer of components for the automotive industry, signed an agreement with Sonovia to develop textiles for cars. These fabrics for carpeting and other interior features will have the same antiviral, antibacterial properties as Sonovia’s made-in-Israel SonoMask washable facemasks, which are proven at least 99 percent effective against coronaviruses and other viruses. At the signing ceremony October 30, Sonovia provided participants with special-edition SonoMasks emblazoned with the Israeli and Italian flags. The technology, developed at Bar-Ilan University, embeds zinc oxide nanoparticles into the fabric that neutralize microbes. Paolo Scudieri of the Adler Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Israel Innovation Authority two years ago for the development of new technologies for the mobility industry. Scudieri subsequently partnered with the Israeli company Inlight, founded 20 years ago by Roberta Anati to integrate innovation into industry. “I found Sonovia when I was looking for a solution to make fabrics smarter,” Anati tells ISRAEL21c. “Through AdlerInlight Technology Observatory, Sonovia’s technology will be integrated into Adler’s production lines in Europe.” The Adler Group has 65 production facilities in 21 countries and supplies all the main automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Sonovia CTO Liat Goldhammer Steinberg said the development and testing period is expected to last about a year. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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School Children Unlikely to Play a Significant Role in COVID-19 Spread

AHA Publisher — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 07:00:29 +0000

Sally Robertson, B.Sc. via News-Medical Net – A study conducted by researchers in Finland suggests that children who are exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in schools are unlikely to transmit the virus further and play any significant role in the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The team’s study of exposure incidents in two different schools in Helsinki found that exposure to a 12-year-old index case did not lead to further SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In contrast, exposure to an index case, which was a staff member, did lead to further transmission. Following exposure to the adult case, the incidence of COVID-19 among children was still low, as was transmission to their household contacts. “It is likely that transmission from children to adults is limited,” writes Timothee Dub (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare) and colleagues. The researchers say they hope the findings will help inform the prioritization of mitigation measures and reassure parents of school-aged children who are worried about the new school year starting in Autumn. A pre-print version of the paper is available on the server medRxiv*, while the article undergoes peer review. Children Were Initially Assumed to Play a Significant Role in Transmission Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, China, late last year, the role children play in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been unclear. As the outbreak developed into a pandemic, some studies showed that children appeared to be at low risk of severe disease or death. Still, it was assumed that children might play a significant role in the transmission, and in many countries governments ordered school closures as a control measure. Schools closed in Finland on March 18th, but, at the time, very few school-related cases of COVID-19 had been reported, and the potential risk of transmission in schools was unknown. Schools were reopened again on May 14th. Early reports on school exposure where the index case was a child generated conflicting results. In France, for example, one study found that of 54 school contacts, no further transmission occurred, while another study reported a 9% attack rate, where almost half of the children were asymptomatic. Calculating Attack Rates and Identifying Transmission Chains Now, Dub and the team have conducted two retrospective cohort studies of school exposure incidents in Helsinki to assess transmission among pupils, staff, and any household contacts. “We recruited close school contacts and families of school cases, calculated attack rates (AR) on school level and families, and identified transmission chains,” writes the team. A case was defined as a person exposed at school who was positive for SARS-CoV-2 based on either reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing or microneutralization testing. The first exposure incident (school A) involved a 12-year old index case who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, following the onset of symptoms in late February while the pupil was still attending school. Dub and colleagues identified 121 close school and sports contacts, all of whom were instructed to stay at home for 14 days. The second exposure incident (school B) involved a middle-aged staff member diagnosed with COVID-19 who had attended school for two days while experiencing symptoms, before then deciding to self-isolate. Contact tracing identified 63 exposed pupils and staff members, all of whom were told to stay at home for 14 days. Transmission Did Not Occur in School A But Did in School B In the case of school A, among 89 (74%) of the 121 close contacts who participated in the study, no further transmission was identified. In the case of school B, among 51 (81%) of 63 close contacts participating in the study, the attack rate was 16%; eight individuals were found to have COVID-19, including one member of staff. Among close household contacts of pupils who became cases, the attack rate was 31% (5 of 16), although the researchers say other plausible sources of infection were reported. “Here, we found that an adult index case could lead to further transmission among children,” say the researchers. “Age might have a role in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in children.” However, the incidence of COVID-19 infections among children following school-related exposure was limited, as was secondary transmission among their households, says the team. The Researchers Hope the Findings Will Reassure Parents, But Say Further Research Is Needed “We hope our findings will help prioritize mitigation measures as well as reduce worry among parents of school-aged children as most EU countries are preparing for the start of a new school year in autumn,” writes the team. The researchers say further studies on COVID-19 transmission in the school setting are needed to improve recommendations for mitigation measures such as quarantine and school closures. “Starting from August 2020, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare will be coordinating multisite transmission studies in the five university hospital cities to understand further the role of children in SARS-CoV2 transmission chains and the role of immunity and other factors in this process,” said Dub and colleagues. To read the original article click here.

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Turmeric Could Have Antiviral Properties

AHA Publisher — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 07:00:14 +0000

Microbiology Society via EurekAlert – Curcumin, a natural compound found in the spice turmeric, could help eliminate certain viruses. A study published in the Journal of General Virology showed that curcumin can prevent Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) – an alpha-group coronavirus that infects pigs – from infecting cells. At higher doses, the compound was also found to kill virus particles. Infection with TGEV causes a disease called transmissible gastroenteritis in piglets, which is characterised by diarrhoea, severe dehydration and death. TGEV is highly infectious and is invariably fatal in piglets younger than two weeks, thus posing a major threat to the global swine industry. There are currently no approved treatments for alpha-coronaviruses and although there is a vaccine for TGEV, it is not effective in preventing the spread of the virus. To determine the potential antiviral properties of curcumin, the research team treated experimental cells with various concentrations of the compound, before attempting to infect them with TGEV. They found that higher concentrations of curcumin reduced the number of virus particles in the cell culture. The research suggests that curcumin affects TGEV in a number of ways: by directly killing the virus before it is able to infect the cell, by integrating with the viral envelope to ‘inactivate’ the virus, and by altering the metabolism of cells to prevent viral entry. “Curcumin has a significant inhibitory effect on TGEV adsorption step and a certain direct inactivation effect, suggesting that curcumin has great potential in the prevention of TGEV infection,” said Dr Lilan Xie, lead author of the study and researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Bioengineering. Curcumin has been shown to inhibit the replication of some types of virus, including dengue virus, hepatitis B and Zika virus. The compound has also been found to have a number of significant biological effects, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. Curcumin was chosen for this research due to having low side effects according to Dr Xie. They said: “There are great difficulties in the prevention and control of viral diseases, especially when there are no effective vaccines. Traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients, are ideal screening libraries for antiviral drugs because of their advantages, such as convenient acquisition and low side effects.” The researchers now hope to continue their research in vivo, using an animal model to assess whether the inhibiting properties of curcumin would be seen in a more complex system. “Further studies will be required, to evaluate the inhibitory effect in vivo and explore the potential mechanisms of curcumin against TGEV, which will lay a foundation for the comprehensive understanding of the antiviral mechanisms and application of curcumin” said Dr Xie. To read the original article click here.

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Israel Fast-Tracks Ventilator Innovations for Covid-19 Care

AHA Publisher — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 07:00:51 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – In face of shortage, partnerships formed in the Startup Nation’s public, private and nonprofit sectors are finding fast and affordable alternatives. As soon as Israeli hospitals saw a possible shortage of ventilators for critical Covid-19 patients, the Startup Nation’s public, private and nonprofit sectors got busy finding fast and affordable alternatives. One of the coordinators of this task is Daniel Gold, the retired brigadier general who daringly began the Iron Dome missile defense project in defiance of the establishment in 2005. This time, as head of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate for Defense R&D (DDRD), Gold does not have to go behind anyone’s back. The DDRD enjoys full support in tackling this issue along with the ministry’s Directorate of Procurement and Production (DOPP). “Our defense industries have unparalleled capabilities — able to manufacture components quickly and in great quantities, whether it’s for weapon systems or ventilators. This eliminates our dependence on imports,” said Gold. “We are continuing in the race around the clock to translate the extraordinary tech capabilities of the defense establishment, to the fight against corona.” Everyone agrees the need is urgent. “Due to the shortage of ventilation machines, when medical staff face the impossible situation of deciding who to ventilate and who will be left to die, quick solutions for ventilation machines are direly necessary,” said Dr. Yoav Mintz, director of Hadassah Medical Center’s Center for Innovative Surgery. Portable Ventilators in Production The DDRD and DOPP converted an Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) production facility to mass-produce portable turbine ventilators designed by Israeli medical device maker Inovytec. Inovytec’s Ventway Sparrow ventilators can be used in and out of the hospital. “The Ventway is suitable for chronic, life support-ventilation in COVID-19 patients,” the company says. IAI’s missile and space engineers are producing the lightweight, turbine-powered ventilators in cooperation with Inovytec. The Defense Ministry also is expanding ventilator production capacity through a collaboration between Israeli ventilator maker Flight Medical Innovations, electronic manufacturing company Baya Technologies and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Flight Medical’s Flight 60 compact mobile mechanical ventilator is suitable for all clinical situations. The company is now developing its Vento2ux series for use in ICUs. LifeCan One One made-in-Israel ventilator project is a partnership between an internationally known entity — defense electronics company Elbit Systems — and a new startup called LifeCan Medical. LifeCan’s emergency automatic ventilators are designed for non-hospital settings to support breathing in less severely ill patients. Projected to cost $2,000 a piece as opposed to tens of thousands for the type of ventilators used in intensive care units, LifeCan One ventilators were approved by the Health Ministry at the prototype stage and will be manufactured by Elbit starting next week at a rate of 500 per week. The initial goal is to produce 3,000 units to meet projected needs and help keep less critical patients from needing hospital care. Another made-in-Israel project is the result of a two-week collaborative effort spearheaded by Air Force Maj. David Alkaher. Among about 40 participating entities are the Israel Air Force electronics unit, IAI, Microsoft Israel, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, robotics specialists, medical centers, national emergency network Magen David Adom and student robotics organization FIRST Israel. The first AmboVent emergency ventilator prototype was built within 48 hours by a high school robotics team. Mechanized to control respiration rate, volume and maximum peak pressure automatically, AmboVent is based on the Ambu Bag manual resuscitator that first responders use to restore normal breathing. An open-source plan released on GitHub on April 2 shows how the new device can be assembled quickly and cheaply using a 3D printer and off-the-shelf components such as sensors, car parts and a snowblower motor. Project coordinator Eitan Eliram, cofounder of Scout Innovation, reported that the specifications — translated from Hebrew into English, German, Italian, and Spanish by the Media Innovation Lab at IDC Herzliya — have been accessed by thousands of individuals and groups from countries including Iran, Egypt, South Africa, Guatemala, Italy and the United States. “We kept the design and every aspect of it very simple so it would be as easy as possible to replicate from everywhere,” he said. The device is being tested at medical centers. Eliram estimated that making each AmboVent will cost between $500 and $1,000. Sharing with the World “We’re making a lot of progress in ventilation, an area where we need new solutions because there is an extreme shortage all over the world,” said Dr. Eyal Zimlichman, chief medical officer and chief innovation officer at Sheba Medical Center and head of its ARC Innovation Center. Sheba is treating most of Israel’s Covid-19 patients. They use a wide assortment of new technologies, particularly in the field of contact-free care. Zimlichman said ARC has been working with partners including the IDF, DDRD and IAI. This week, Sheba received 100 hospital-grade ventilators that were made by converting BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) noninvasive ventilation machines, a project done in collaboration with the IDF. Converted BiPAP ventilators “IAI will do mass production [of the converted BiPAP ventilators] in the future if there is a need,” Zimlichman tells ISRAEL21c. “We believe the world will be very interested in this idea. We will share it with partners across the world.” Zimlichman cautions, however, that Covid-19 seems to manifest itself in different ways, and ventilation is not warranted for all critical patients; in fact, in some patients ventilation may be more harmful than helpful. Nevertheless, hospitals want to be sure enough ventilators and associated technologies are available for patients who may benefit from them. IAI’s Aviation R&D group is developing a sterilization system for hospital ventilators as well as a ventilation “helmet” made from 3D-printed parts. The Israeli Navy’s R&D team is working with partners on producing advanced medical oxygen compression systems to aid in treating ventilated Covid-19 patients. Avi Dadon, Deputy Director General and head of DOPP, added: “We are proud of the full mobilization of Israeli industries for the national mission of manufacturing and supplying ventilators. The cooperation between defense, high-tech and medical industries is a real force multiplier.” Meanwhile, World Judo Champion Sagi Muki is auctioning personal memorabilia to purchase five ventilators for a hospital in his hometown of Netanya. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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Cost-Effective Canopy Protects Health Workers from COVID Infection During Ventilation

AHA Publisher — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 07:00:07 +0000

European Lung Foundation via EurekAlert – Researchers have designed a cost-effective, constant flow plastic canopy system that can help to protect healthcare workers who are at risk of airborne coronavirus infection while delivering non-invasive ventilation or oxygen via high flow nasal canula (HFNC), according to a research letter published in the European Respiratory Journal. Ventilatory support with non-invasive ventilation or HFNC are often used to treat people with respiratory failure, a symptom of severe coronavirus disease, as they help patients with breathing difficulties to breathe by pushing pressured air into the lungs via a mask covering the mouth and/or nose. This can alleviate the need for in-demand invasive mechanical ventilators, but there are concerns about the increased risk of infection for healthcare workers who treat patients with non-invasive respiratory support. Professor Yochai Adir, from the Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center Pulmonary Division, Israel, led the research team. He explained: “The current crisis has resulted in a shortage of access to negative pressure facilities and invasive mechanical ventilators. This means we must adapt, so that we can continue to treat patients as best we can while protecting the health and safety of healthcare workers. “Non-invasive ventilation is one solution for this, but it may increase the risk of infection for healthcare workers, as virus particles can become airborne due to mask leakage, the speed and direction of the air flow, or from patient coughing. The constant flow canopy system that we designed and built addresses this risk, by eliminating healthcare workers’ exposure to this potentially dangerous situation.” The flexible plastic canopy forms an air chamber that covers the upper part of the patient’s body. The canopy is connected to a system containing a high-quality air filter that cleans the air, and an electrical fan that creates negative pressure, pulling the filtered air to the open air. The canopy system can be used to support up to four patients at a time. The researchers say the plastic used for the canopy design does not allow fluid or particles to pass through it and that it has been tested against international standards, which score effectiveness based on the number and size of airborne particles that pass through the material. Professor Adir said: “We installed this cost-effective system within our hospital and found it supports the delivery of non-invasive ventilatory support with minimal risk of infection for the medical staff. It enables alternatives to mechanical ventilation for patients with moderate to severe coronavirus infection, who may otherwise go untreated because of a shortage of equipment.” The researchers say the physical barrier between patients and medical staff created by the canopy could make administering treatment challenging, and the size of the canopy system can be difficult to install in small treatment rooms. Professor Leo Heunks is an expert in intensive care medicine from the European Respiratory Society and was not involved in the study. He said: “Critical care systems are facing unprecedented challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic, so it is vital that we come up with ways to alleviate the pressure on healthcare systems without compromising health worker safety. The design outlined in this research paper offers an interesting approach for treating patients who require breathing support, and importantly it has a clear focus on protecting the health of frontline medical staff.” To read the original article click here.

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