Plasmacluster Ion Technology Proven to Decrease Risk of Tuberculosis Infection

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that mostly affects the lung area. Its person-to-person spread can be attributed to whenever an infected person coughs, sneezes, spits, or even talks, and subsequently transfers microscopic saliva droplets to the air where they can be inhaled by anyone nearby.

The disease is still hitting the country hard with over 290,000 Filipino victims every year. The World Health Organization has confirmed a total number of 9 million cases worldwide with yearly death tolls reaching up to 1.5 million.

Developing countries like the Philippines are still the ones heavily affected by this disease and the fight for its total wipe-out is a movement that should involve different institutions—from the government, to the academe, and down to private organizations and corporations.

This year, Sharp, together with the WHO Global Health Workforce Alliance National Center of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, has put together a team of experts to test and study the power of the Plasmacluster Ion Technology in preventing the spread and infection of Tuberculosis. Plasmacluster Ion Technology, or PCI, is Sharp’s proprietary air purifying technology that uses positive and negative ions to deactivate the effects of airborne viruses, bacteria, allergens and microbes by up to 99%.

For the study, 140 Sharp Plasmacluster Ion Technology devices were placed inside a special Tuberculosis hospital in Tbilisi, Georgia. Both healthcare workers and patients were requested to join and participate.

The healthcare workers who were initially tested to be negative carriers of Tuberculosis became the first core group of participants. To check the effectivity of the devices, they were once again tested for any TB infections 8 months after the installation.

For the 155 Tuberculosis culture positive patients, 49 were intially found without ADR (Acquired Drug Resistance)1 after the intitial Drug Susceptibility Test2. These 49 patients soon underwent the Plasmacluster Ion Technology trial—this time to determine its efficacy in preventing ADR in TB culture positive patients.

For both groups, the experiment came in with favorable results. The Plasmacluster Ion Technology reduced the risk of healthcare workers to carry the Tuberculosis bacteria. Only 1 out of 10 workers in the PCI-protected area tested as a positive carrier while rooms without PCI resulted to 6 out of 15 positive carriers.

There was also a reduction in number of patients with Acquired Drug Resistance from the Plasmacluster Ion Technology-equipped room with only 1 out of 25 patients compared to the 4 out of 19 affected patients in rooms without the devices.

These results only prove that the Plasmacluster Ion Technology truly helps decrease the continued spread of the Tuberculosis bacteria and helps culture positive patients avoid ADR. Given these impressive findings, the clinical study will be presented during the 21st Congress of Asian Pacific Society of Respirology this coming November 2016.

With over 28 academic trials executed over the years, the Plasmacluster Ion Technology has already proven itself effective in reducing the spread of other hazardous substances such as influenza virus, drug-resistant bacteria, and mite allergens. It even lessens the risk of tracheal inflammation in childhood asthma patients.

Since 2000, Sharp’s involvement in various testings only attest to their dedication and passion in affirming the Plasmacluster Ion Technology’s effectiveness in keeping people around the globe safe and secure. With this vision, Sharp will continue to challenge and test its own engineering to further serve the population better.

Know more about the Plasmacluster Ion Technology by visiting www.sharp.ph and follow them on Facebook (Sharp Philippines) and Instagram (@sharp.ph).