Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of the Protect 200 for removal of Influenza virus H1N1 from the air.

Methodology

In an airtight environment, contaminated droplets containing the virus were aerosolized using a medical nebulizer. Experiments were performed inside a biological safety cabinet, safety level 3. The inner volume was 537 litres (or 0.537 m³). Air renewal was switched off during the tests, to prevent aerosols from getting trapped in the cabinet filters. Only two conditions were tested: purifier switched off during the test, or purifier switched on. Each was conducted 3 times, amounting to 6 tests. Given the volume of 537 L of the safety cabinet, a running time of 39 seconds corresponds to a single passage of the air inside the cabinet through the Protect 200. Five seconds were added to account for the activation time of the plasma. The final operation time of the Protect 200 was then 44 seconds.

For each experiment, the nebulizer was switched on for 5 minutes. Then, simultaneously, the nebulizer was switched off and the purifier was either switched on or left off. After a defined time, the purifier was switched off (or left off) and, simultaneously, the air sampler was switched on for 5 minutes. At the end of the sampling time, the collection flask was removed and closed. The air was sampled and analyzed for quantitation of the remaining virus population. Efficiency of the Protect 200 was evaluated based on the log reduction of the viral count in air.

Results

Test results show that the Protect 200 was effective at removing 51.8% of the Influenza H1N1 virus from the air after 1 passage (or 44 seconds) through the device.