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Unclean indoor air an invitation to illnesses

Talking to Khaleej Times, Dr Basil Safferini, senior specialist for respiratory diseases and a member of the Emirates Respiratory Society, said that lack of proper ventilation in houses was a major reason behind the rising upper respiratory tract illnesses in the country.

“Due to the hot weather conditions, most people prefer to stay indoors. This is also a reason why there is no proper ventilation in the house which leads to house dust mites that take refuge in carpets, air conditioner ducts and bed sheets,” he explained.

Dr Safferini was speaking yesterday on the sidelines of the launch of Sharp’s plasmacluster ion technology in association with Cosmos ITL Group in the UAE, which they claim purifies indoor air by creating negative and positive ion shower that creates a natural chemical process that purifies air.

Dr Safferini said that the most common kind of respiratory diseases in children were viral infections, while in adults it could be anything from common cold to cancer of the lungs. “Smoking indoors without proper ventilation is among the leading causes of cancer among adults,” he added.

Describing the preventive methods, he said that airing the house regularly, changing bed sheets weekly, and replacing carpets with mosaic tiles were among the precautions. “In summer time, opening windows even for 2-3 minutes is enough to ventilate the house,” he explained. He also advised people using window air conditioners to clean the filters weekly using a detergent and disinfectant, while smoking indoors should be discouraged.

During the event, Sharp presented a research carried out by Dr Melvin First and Professor Emeritus at Harvard School of Public Health, which shows the efficacy of plasmacluster ions in eliminating the airborne pathogenic bacteria.

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