Of course with the northern hemisphere changing over to Winter, so come the inevitable virus', colds, flu, pneumonia and other potentially life threatening illnesses.
An often over looked issue, that faces all of us regularly is the transference of potentially harmful pathogens that can occur when differing users might touch or operate a door handle, safety bar, handrail etc. Do you know who touched the item before you? Do you care?
A little over 7 years ago we wrote an article about the recently released (at the time) blockbuster movie, starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. We included the preview in our article too. (See the article we wrote in October 2011, below).
When you go to a hospital or medical clinic, you hope that the managers of such public places care enough about the health and welfare of their consumers to have policies and rules in place to mitigate any harm potentially caused therein, right?
I'm sure you have seen and continue to see many private and public places include a pump bottle of hand sanitizer near a restroom and often signs posted inside a restroom requiring employees to wash hands prior to handling food or after using the facilities. This modern day policy stemmed from the outbreak of the highly contagious H1N1 virus that threatened many thousands of people all across the planet. Luckily the quick action of governments worldwide and especially the CDC in America, stemmed the threat, but not before thousands of people, animals, birds etc, were slaughtered or died.
See our post from October 1, 2011.
Contagion
Just last week my wife and I went to see this movie. I found it to be one of the most entertaining suspense filled films I have seen in ages.
It stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Lawrence Fishburne and a gaggle of other big name stars.
The storyline involves a woman who returns home to the USA from abroad who has been in contact with someone who passed on a virus to her. Anything or anyone she came into contact with seemed to also contract the contagious virus.
To make a long story short, many millions of people become infected and die before a cure is found.
The realism in this fictional movie was astounding. The film director makes the audience feel that the whole scenario is entirely plausible and probable.
The recent bird flu and H1N1 virus' that the world contracted in the last couple of years, makes this film even more realistic and topical.
Why do I post this review here?
I am the exclusive USA importer/distributor of the sensational Serrature Meroni brand of locks and door and cabinet hardware from Italy. Serrature Meroni, a few years ago introduced a unique line of inventory that includes especially designed anti-bacterial polymer door knobs. These handles minimize the potential impact of transferring diseasebetween people.
Virtually all people touch a door knob to operate a door at home or work or the doctors surgery or a hospital or any other public building, in order to enter or exit a room or the building. All people rarely consider the likelihood of catching and spreading germs from unknowingly touching a surface that a possible infected carrier has also touched.
Remember when those recent well known virus' (Bird Flu and H1N1) were breaking news all over the media? Pharmacists, grocery stores and merchants everywhere suddenly began selling notoriously huge amounts of hand sanitizers and similar products. Many institutions enacted strict policies forcing people to use hand sanitizers as often as possible and some even required employees to wear face masks to minimize the potential spread of airborne diseases.
The realism of the movie Contagion, made me think about how easy it would be to spread disease.
But thanks to forward thinking companies like Serrature Meroni, we can now rest easier with the assurance that forward thinking home owners, hospital management, doctors surgeries, chemical research laboratories and other concerned proactive people, are taking steps to protect their customers, staff, friends and families from the potential deadly side effects of unknown or even known virus'.