World first air purification technology for H5N1 Avian Influenza

Sharp Corporation has demonstrated that Plasmacluster Ions reduce activity of the highly fatal and highly pathogenic airborne H5N1 avian influenza ("bird flu") virus by 99%.

The research was conducted in collaboration with Retroscreen Virology, Ltd., an organization which was established by one of the world’s leading authorities on virology, Professor John S. Oxford of the University of London School of Medicine & Dentistry, and which works in compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). Among the diverse range of air purification technologies available, Plasmacluster Ions are the first in the world to have been proven effective against this virus.

Plasmacluster Ion technology was developed in 2000 and is an air purification technology that disables airborne microorganisms by releasing positive and negative ions into the air. In the five years since its development, Sharp has been working together with academic research organizations around the world based on a “collaborative research approach to product marketing*4” and has demonstrated that Plasmacluster Ions are effective against a total of 26 kinds of harmful airborne substances, including bacteria, mold fungi, viruses and allergens. In addition, in November 2004, the mechanism by which Plasmacluster Ions cause cell death was explained: they damage the proteins on the cell membrane surface of bacteria. It has now been proven scientifically that they have the potential to be effective against a broad array of harmful airborne substances that have proteins on their cell surfaces.

The type of avian influenza virus for which effectiveness has most recently been confirmed is the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, which has in fact taken a toll on human life. This research finding confirms that Plasmacluster Ions are effective against newly emerging viruses and has further expanded the fields in which Plasmacluster Ions demonstrate efficacy.