Misconception on face masks against H1N1 infection

The over-emphasis on wearing face masks is giving people a false sense of safety. Most people think that wearing face masks will prevent H1N1 virus from infecting them and the constant reminder of the government reinforces this thinking. The truth is that face masks do not effectively prevent anyone from getting infected by H1N1 because H1N1 is not an airborne virus.

Taken from a website - [...to be considered an airborne virus, the microorganism would have to survive or remain in the air for long periods of time. The H1N1 virus, like all influenza viruses do not stay in the air in some sort of suspended animation. When a person sneezes, the virus is transferred via the droplets of the sneeze, if someone is infected this way it is known as infection by "Droplet contact" or a "Respiratory Route".]

Taken from Wikipedia - [Influenza spreads between humans through coughing or sneezing and people touching something with the virus on it and then touching their own nose or mouth...

Recommendations to prevent spread of the virus among humans include using standard infection control against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public. Chance of transmission is also reduced by disinfecting household surfaces, which can be done effectively with a diluted chlorine bleach solution.]

Read also this article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US - http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm. CDC does not mention prevention using face masks at all in the article.

Face masks prevent those people who have cough or cold from spewing saliva and/or mucus onto surfaces when they cough or sneeze. Whoever touches the contaminated surfaces will then get infected by the virus. Anyone not wearing face masks should cough or sneeze into a tissue and dispose it properly into the trash bin after use.

Many people tend to cough or sneeze into their hands and when they touch a handrail or door knob, the virus is transferred onto these surfaces. Because they do not know that the H1N1 virus transmits via surface contamination, they do not take preventive measures to avoid spreading the virus.

For someone to get infected directly, the infected person must literally cough or sneeze into his face. In this scenario, wearing a face mask will reduce the chance of getting infected while the virus is still suspended in the air in that very short time and has not dropped onto the surface. But people don't cough or sneeze into someone else's face.

To avoid being infected by H1N1 or any other flu virus, avoid touching surfaces in public areas such as handrails, etc. Avoid touching our noses or mouths with our hands until after washing our hands. Almost all of those who died of H1N1 had pneumonia or lungs failure. The most direct route of infection is via our noses and mouths.

I have seen many people at train and bus stations wearing face masks who pull down their face masks to rub their noses and touch their mouths. If their hands had been contaminated by the H1N1 virus then they would have been infected, despite wearing face masks.

After touching any surfaces, quickly wash hands with soap or sanitizer. Surfaces must be wiped clean as often as possible with a mild chlorine-based cleanser. How often do we see anyone wiping escalator handrails, elevator control panels or table tops? All everyone talk about is face masks when cleaning surfaces is more important and effective to kill the virus.

The public has not been informed about surface contamination and infection by the Ministry of Health, only to wear face masks and to wash hands properly. This is a gross irresponsibility on their part and a factor and reason why H1N1 continue to spread in Malaysia.

Suicidal Action in My Room


OH GOSH
it's the sixth one that died in my room already,
what's wrong with all this morpho kept flying one by one into m y room day by day and got hit by the fan.
and got me jump around the apartment to avoid their landing!

my room is not your graveyard!

A New Family to Travis's Site : PhotoBlog

Hey People,

I believe you've notice a new link from the main page to tumblr!
That's right, that's a new addon to the family of travis's site!
yeah,

a short introduction on
well, it's as simple as, a collection of travis's favourite photos!
believing for more in the near future.
next target during the up coming sem break
Street, Beach, wedding photography!

if you're my friend or friend's friend on facebook,
you will see those pictures there as well,
and if you notice, there's a row of picture link at the most right column of this blog too...
which is accessable for public users.

it's been a while people had been asking how and where they could see my pictures...
i guess this answers your question.

Rawr! one more final presentation this thursday morning!
Travis Loh
Signing off!

H1N1- Unpublicized preventative steps (Personal)

Friends,

Thanks to media hype about H1N1, I’ve received calls from several who trust me, to advise. The hype in media about the utility of face masks and N95 as a tool for general protection against H1N1 can’t be deplored enough. Today, a friend who listened wanted me to write down briefly what I advised so that he could tell others in similar words. Hence this short email to friends whom I have advised recently. Please realize that this is not an official advice, especially the one about face masks or N95.

Most N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3µ, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1µ. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net.

Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation. H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tracts and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.Contact with H1N1 is not the problem but proliferation is..

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps — not fully highlighted in most official communications — can be practised (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications)

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt).. H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one.Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Sutra Neti (a very good Yoga asana to clean the nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.Happy breathing

Stopmotion Video Project

Here's the trailer...
The full video we shall post it up later... :)
enjoy

Something I had been working on


Well, this wasn't what it suppose to be but after my ext hdd died...
We decided to change the whole story to what i think we should do in order to have a better impact on a male lecturer.

here's a rough edit of the storyboard of my stopmotion video project...
and yes sorry people, kinda busy with some final assessment...
give me sometime i ll be updating you guys with better ones...


Edward's Convo @ UPM



What else could i say about Edward besides being a bro in christ to me?
Cheesy? Funny? Talkative? non-stop rubbigh crapper? playful monkey?
lol doesn't matter what he is, he's a great friend of mine.

Participated Edward's convo today or... hmm still here at UPM waiting for him to come out from the ceremony. and yes it's a long wait, i had enough sleeping / resting time and finally get to start working on the trailer pix of his convo shoot today!

Here's a few of his! stay tuned later on..
and oh !
Congratulation on your graduation Edward ! woohooo!!!
God Bless!!!



Spot Eddie's hand? hmm is his hand even in the picture? I FORGOTTEN! hahahaha
Squickwerk (how you spell that spongebob char?) graduating in the dark!
Edward among the lomo of the lomos
very obvious that no one likes Edward here haha

He ain't that young at all

This was a tough one, waited for quite a while for the best timing to capture Han Wey's kiddy look while having fun with his toys. By looking at this picture, i misses the time when I was still young with all the Legos and barbie dolls? and etc...

H1N1(it's getting serious) - Everything You Need to Know

RESOURCE CENTRE: Today’s News as Submitted to MyKhazanah – To ensure access, please log-on to MyKhazanah

A. LOCAL PRESS

Highlights

1. Influenza A (H1N1) Now A Serious Threat, Says Najib / Bernama, 07 Aug 2009

Kuala Lumpur: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said on Friday the influenza A (H1N1) has become a serious threat to the nation and advised the people not to attend gatherings in public places. The prime minister also advised the people to take comprehensive preventive measures after the H1N1 death toll rose to 14 as of Thursday and many schools and tertiary institutions had been closed due to cases of infections. "Don't hold gatherings unless they are necessary. Gatherings will expose us to additional risk because the disease will spread," he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Sports Industry Convention here. Preventive measures like washing hands and wearing masks, especially when attending public functionsm, could also be taken, he said, adding that he had washed his hands before entering the convention venue because he had shaken hands with many people. "If we have to wear a mask, wear it. There's nothing to lose," he said.




Documents

Advisory for Caregivers

&

Advisory for Patients

Should i call them Noise? or Tune? hahahah !

My SEGi Life is full of "iuawheikahdsjahdiuaweyiuwaey"
from 2 girls + few boys..

let me name them here to make them feel better....

the two main treble speakers :
Yi Min
Xue Fen

The two main sub woofer:
Han Wei
Han Seng

o gosh, life is a bit more interesting with these people around
thanks a lot !


HDD Downed Again

Maxtor sucks badly, this is the 2nd time it had failed me.
memories and hardwork are once again gone for the 2nd time.

pictures, videos, portfolio, company data and etc are all gone.
no time for more words...

but time to redo all the final assessments that had just lost...
what a good timing to be RIP...

o gosh!


"Sometimes, things happen. You might lost something which you won't be able to retrieve it easily, but you're able to... just the matter of time..."


"If you don't feel lousy, you're one wierdo, but look at it in a positive way, maybe the work you're gonna re-produce later would be a much better work"


Memories of "Gundam" and "Shopping"


Just when I dig into a box of "memories"
i dig out this Gundam which I bought 1 or 2years ago.

it's only 5cm tall, used it for one of my photography design...
talking about this Gundam,

it reminds me of those days when i used to go shopping / wind-eating alone around subang...
oh yeah.. i spend money when i am emo...
hahahha it took me 4 tokens to buy this gundam from a eggy machine...
yeah freakin RM16 flew off....
but looking at it again... it's not a waste after all as it's kinda detail and good quality...
unlike those cheap gundam you buy outthere which looks gila-ly suck and every parts of the body fell off easily but not this one...

Drive Safe

I woke up in the mid of the night... and saw this awesome video