Articles
Articles
Bed Bugs – Back With a Bite
Natasha Gordon PhD outlines the re-emergence of these nocturnal pests “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Growing up, many of us would have heard this saying, yet most children were probably unaware of what a bed bug was. Although bed bugs have...
Can Portable Air Cleaners Remove Particulate Pollutants In Our Homes and Offices?
Angela Southey PhD discusses the potential health benefits of these popular products Portable air cleaner usage in homes and offices has increased steadily over the last 20 years in countries such as the US where one in three households has an air cleaner 1. The main...
How do you dry your hands?
Did you know that wet hands can spread up to 1000 times more bacteria than dry hands?1 That is why hand drying is the important final step of a hand hygiene procedure. The most common hand drying methods involve the use of paper towels, continuous paper rolls and...
Overview of the influenza virus
Influenza viruses are responsible for the highly contagious flu disease that can range in severity from mild to serious illness. This virus is important globally. For centuries influenza infections have caused both epidemics (the rapid spread of infectious disease to...
Contamination of bed linen – Factors in microbial and allergen accumulation
Federal health officials recently reported that at least two million Americans are infected every year by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 die from those infections (1). This harsh reality of hospital infections means that there is no doubting the...
Bed bug feeding methods for laboratory maintenance
Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius & Cimex hemipterus) are nocturnal feeding insects that feed solely on blood from sleeping humans or other warm blooded animals. While bed bugs were a known pest to humans from the time of the Greek and Roman empires, since the...
Building Materials Can Be a Major Source Of Indoor Air Pollution
This article originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of Occupational Health & Safety magazine. Asthma is an increasingly common respiratory condition that affects up to 30 percent of children and 10 percent of adults in the developed world1. Exposure to...
Reduction of Domestic Allergen Levels in Carpets and Soft Furnishings in US Homes Using a Proprietary Hot Water Extraction Cleaning Process
2013 AAAAI Annual Meeting Poster RationaleAllergen avoidance in the home should address contaminant reservoirs e.g. carpets and soft furnishings. The impact of a proprietary hot water extraction cleaning process on surface and airborne allergens and microorganisms was...
Issues with Indoor Air Quality. A Health Friendly Air perspective
Fungal and bacterial microorganisms are ubiquitous elements of the flora that an individual is exposed to on a daily basis. At Health Friendly Air (HFA) we have acquired significant experience in addressing the occurrence of these issues in businesses and homes and as...
An overview of methods used to evaluate the efficacy of antibacterial treated surfaces and textiles
by Vivienne Mahon PhD a Senior Researcher at airmid healthgroup In general, rather than being free living, most microorganisms exist attached onto surfaces. These microorganisms then have the potential to transfer to other locations e.g if they come into contact with...