Exposure Reduction Consultants, LLC

05/20/2022

Monkey Pox emerging from its typical patterns in Africa and skipping to Europe and N America is one to keep an eye on…

LONDON (AP) — Scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks of monkeypox in Africa say they are baffled by the disease's recent spread in Europe and North America.

12/20/2021

I have refrained from posting on this site during much of the Covid-19 pandemic as there is so much "information" presented in the press, from government agencies, etc. Their appears to still be a basic lack of understanding among some. With that, this is a quick, "exposure 101" summary to bring things back to perspective. It's really not that complicated.... Remember three words: SOURCE.....PATHWAY....RECEPTOR

SOURCE is the infected person, a contaminated surface, or anything else that possesses the virus or other organism we need to avoild.

PATHWAY is how the organism gets into your body. In the case of COVID-19 it's primarily through inhalation. Food poisoning is via ingestion. STDs are via contact, etc.

RECEPTOR is you, or the person being exposed.

Again - SOURCE....PATHWAY.… RECEPTOR are elements of exposure. To reduce the spread we need to best address each.

SOURCE- for COVID place a surgical mask over the potentially infected person's mouth and nose where they exhale. Critics say this doesn't work because the virus is smaller than the mask holes. However, we do not breath out individual virus particles, we breath out water droplets that are much larger and can contain potentially millions of individual virus per particle. Breath in a mirror without a mask and see it fog. Breath in a mirror with a mask and see the difference.

PATHWAY - put distance between you and the source, also dilution is huge in reducing how much virus travels from the source through the pathway to you. You fart in a crowded elevator...everyone will smell it (exposure); you fart in a parking lot outside and hopefully noone will know! it's all about separation and dilution!

RECEPTOR - that's you. All masks are not the same. The same mask may be more effective on one person than another. Here is where you want FILTRATION. A surgical mask gives very little, a N-95 or KN-95 gives much, much better protection. Add the effectiveness of vaccines and your risks of serious illness or death goes down exponentially.

If anyone has actually read this far, thank you. Reduce the SOURCE, Dilute the PATHWAY, and Protect the RECEPTOR and we'll get past this!

Merry Christmas,
I Love You All,
Marshall

11/26/2021

I’ve not posted in a while, but with the report of the new variant of concern I wanted to pass on the direct link from WHO rather than hearing though filters of the media or other third hand sources. This appears to be a significant shift in the virus and one to keep distance from.

https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2021-classification-of-omicron-(b.1.1.529)-sars-cov-2-variant-of-concern

12/20/2020

This is something to watch. With each host the virus enters the virus has the potential to mutate and become more or less contagious, or more or less lethal. Per the story below this mutation is 70% more contagious, and hopefully not more lethal. The question is - will the vaccine protect against this mutations?
We generally have a different flu vaccine each year at it’s a “moving target”, hopefully we can get ahead of COVID without this mutation becoming an issue. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

BERLIN (AP) — One by one, several European Union nations banned flights from the U.K. on Sunday and others were considering similar action in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping...

05/11/2020

It’s been an extremely busy year and have been working primarily on COVID-19 related topics for the past few months. There are consistent questions on reopening with a lot of varying guidance. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) posted their reopening guidance which is detailed and useful for a lot of industries. I hope the link if helpful to those who might need it.

Keep distanced and wearing the face coverings, we’re letting down our guard but the virus is moving full force.

www.backtoworksafely.org

03/19/2020

In this pandemic we are the Petri dishes. Stay away from the Petri dish. Prayer for all.

02/28/2020

As we plan for COVID-19/ Coronanavirus I have a challenge:

1) As you go through the day, count the number of door k***s, handles, shopping carts, or other common "touch points" you encounter.

2) Also, count the number of times you rub your eyes, scratch your nose, or generally touch your face.

3) Did you thoroughly wash your hands between one and two above? If not, you're susceptible.

There have already been over 16K deaths from seasonal flu this year. This barely makes the news. If we employ the same preventive measures for flu as Coronavirus we'll stop transmission of both!

Exposure Reduction Consultants has been busy assisting some large (national and international) clients with Business Continuity Planning for COVID-19. However our passion is to help everyone! If we ALL wash our hands frequently, and before touching our face, stay out of public when we have a fever, and stay away from crowded places we'll be fine - and your chances of seasonal flu are greatly reduced!

02/04/2020

As we rightly raise concern over the spread of novel Caronavirus, it’s good to pause to take account of the huge impacts of the season flu that is around us. The precautions we would take to prevent flu (absent vaccine) would be applicable to Coronavirus as well. Stay home and seek medical treatment if ill, wash hands frequently, avoid crowded places where infected individuals may be present, and more. This CDC link shows the impact of this years influenza from Oct 1, 2019 to Jan 25, 2019 - you might be surprised!

CDC's weekly cumulative in-season estimates of flu cases, medical visits, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States.

01/24/2020

Potential case of cornovirus now in quarantine at Duke University (Durham, NC). All would be prudent to keep a watch on the novel (new) coronavirus that has jumped from animal to human, now likely human to human. As a result there is no vaccine or treatment other than patient comfort at this point. Best potential personal strategies are to avoid crowded places, avoid hand to mouth/eye/nose contact after touching surfaces, and wash hands frequently (as well as filtering face piece respirators). Plenty of good advice on CDC website (www.cdc.gov). Worse case scenario be ready to stay home for a week or two in the event of epidemic.

https://www.wral.com/possible-case-of-wuhan-coronavirus-reported-in-nc/18907535/

The state Department of Health and Human Services is investigating a possible case of the new coronavirus in North Carolina.

12/16/2019

Which of the following plants brought indoors during Christmas does NOT have some toxic properties (either to humans or pets)?
a) Poinsettia
b) Mistletoe
c) Christmas Cactus
d) Holly Berries

The answer is (C), Christmas Cactus! Each of the others have some level of toxicity - just don't eat them, keep them away from the little ones and pets, and wash up after handling and you'll be fine!