Application of the vaccine, however, first requires you to scrape off some of the keratinized epithelium to gain access to the Langerhans cells. This abrasion needs to be consistent, painless, and easy enough that it could be self-administered. At TEDMED, we've heard from IDEO's CEO Tim Brown, whose design firm was hired to develop the application technique for the transcutaneous vaccine patches. IDEO came up with a band aid looking device with a bulls eye and an attached tab. Pressing at the center and pulling the tab draws an abrasive strip across the skin, as well as leaves an ink mark to show where the vaccine patch should be placed. The application device and patch is also made using only standard processes and materials so they'd be easily manufactured in developing countries.

The administration device and patch are currently in phase two clinical trials for pandemic influenza.

Product page @ IDEO...

Flasback:Immunity That's More Than Skin Deep...

From the abstract in Analytical Chemistry:

A reagentless bioactive paper-based solid-phase biosensor was developed for detection of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, including organophosphate pesticides. The assay strip is composed of a paper support (1 x 10 cm), onto which AChE and a chromogenic substrate, indophenyl acetate (IPA), were entrapped using biocompatible sol-gel derived silica inks in two different zones (e.g., sensing and substrate zones). The assay protocol involves first introducing the sample to the sensing zone via lateral flow of a pesticide-containing solution. Following an incubation period, the opposite end of the paper support is placed into distilled deionized water (ddH₂O) to allow lateral flow in the opposite direction to move paper-bound IPA to the sensing area to initiate enzyme catalyzed hydrolysis of the substrate, causing a yellow-to-blue color change. The modified sensor is able to detect pesticides without the use of any external reagents with excellent detection limits (bendiocarb ~ 1 nM; carbaryl ~ 10 nM; paraoxon ~ 1 nM; malathion ~ 10 nM) and rapid response times (5 min). The sensor strip showed negligible matrix effects in detection of pesticides in spiked milk and apple juice samples. Bioactive paper-based assays on pesticide residues collected from food samples showed good agreement with a conventional mass spectrometric assay method.

Abstract in Analytical Chemistry: Reagentless Bidirectional Lateral Flow Bioactive Paper Sensors for Detection of Pesticides in Beverage and Food Samples

Statement by the American Chemical Society: An inexpensive 'dipstick' test for pesticides in foods ...

Link: AED4EU...

Product page: Layar Reality Browser

(hat tip: ScienceRoll)

"Masks and respirators should be considered the 'last line of defense' in a hierarchy of infection control measures."

Full story: Unmasking the Surgical Mask: Does It Really Work?...

Image credit Eneas @ Flickr...

The simple website poses a series of questions based on three levels of assessment developed by Emory with guidance from CDC recommendations. Using basic English, that just about anyone can understand and what a primary care physician would be asking, a series of questions is presented. First, the system identifies whether you meet the CDC criteria of flu. And if so, it proceeds to look for symptoms of potentially severe illness, immediately suggesting you to see a doc. If the illness is not severe enough, the questions then try to identify associated risk factors of becoming sick with the flu, finally leading to a recommendation of whether to seek professional help. Currently operational for people 12 years of age and older, the system should be functional to include children in the next few days. Additionally, Microsoft promises to soon include services from TelaDoc, linking patients with real physicians for further assessment of their condition.

Link: Microsoft H1N1 Flu Response Center...

The new application also features an option for users to submit an outbreak report. This will enable individuals in cities and countries around the world to interact with the HealthMap team and participate in the public health surveillance process. Users may take photos - of situations and scenarios of, and/or leading to, disease - with their iPhone and submit them to the HealthMap system for review and eventual posting as an alert on the worldwide map.

"This is grassroots, participatory epidemiology," says HealthMap co-founder Clark Freifeld, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab and research software developer at CHIP. "In releasing this app we aim to empower citizens in the cause of public health, not only by providing ready access to real-time information, but also by encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge, expertise, and observations. In enabling participation in surveillance, we also expect to increase global coverage and identify outbreaks earlier."

Press release: New iPhone app "Outbreaks Near Me" locates H1N1 (swine flu), infectious diseases

Product page: Outbreaks Near Me

Flashbacks: Swine Flu As Spectator Sport; The Latest on HealthMap, an Online Disease-Mining System; BoingBoing Shamefully Ignores Valid Questions; More about User-Generated Content; HEALTHmap Global Disease Tracker

The system has been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME in Schmallenberg and for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM in Freiburg. It checks gas emissions on-line – directly in the warehouse for instance. “We have brought together various technologies based on the use of metal oxide sensors, similar to those installed in cars, for example, to close ventilation vents when driving through a tunnel. Researchers at IPM have developed these sensors further. If a gas flows over the sensor, at temperatures of 300 to 400°C, it will burn at the point of contact. The subsequent exchange of electrons changes the electrical conductivity,” explains Dr. Mark Bücking, Head of Department at IME. “Before the gas reaches these sensors, it has to go through a separation column with polymers. Certain substances are already filtered out here.” A prototype of the analysis equipment already exists. Initial tests were promising – the system measures the volatile substances just as sensitively as conventional equipment used in food laboratories.

Press release: Ripe pineapple and delicious pork...

In recent years, different individual solutions for warning systems have been developed. Cell-broadcast systems can send mass SMS messages to mobile phones. Smoke detectors, radio-controlled clocks and weather stations equipped with radio receivers can also trigger alarm. Despite the high distribution rate of some of these devices, it cannot be ensured that a warning reaches the entire population. Only individual persons or households would be warned, and only if the devices are on standby 24/7/365. Today, fire brigades and disaster protection agencies would rather want the sirens back. However, the resulting costs would amount to several 100 million Euros for German federal and state governments, which share the responsibility for civil protection.

In January, researchers of the INT applied for a patent of a technology which allows the horns of parked cars to be activated in case of disaster. The technology is based on the eCall emergency system, which new cars are going to be equipped with as from September 2010. The eCall system was developed at the initiative of the EU Commission to help reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. It consists of a GPS sensor and a mobile phone component, which is activated only in case of an accident (i.e. when the airbags are triggered) and which can transmit data (e.g. accident time, coordinates and driving direction of the vehicle) to an emergency call center.

The INT researchers found out that this infrastructure can also be used to warn the population. Once the cars are equipped with a radio receiver, their horns can be triggered in case of disaster. The receiver can be activated only by civil protection agencies. These might send e.g. the following signal to the vehicles: »To all vehicles that are equipped with the receiver and that are currently within the boundaries of the following GPS coordinates: If the engine is off, start sounding the horn!«

Dipl.-Ing. Guido Huppertz from the INT’s Technology Analyses and Forecasts (TAV) department has worked on the system and explains the advantages of honking cars: »All hitherto suggested solutions such as mobile phones or smoke detectors only inform the respective device user. The entire population can only be informed if 100% are equipped with these devices.«

Full story @ Fraunhofer: Car horns warn against natural disasters...

From the product page:

TruTags™ are manufactured starting with high-purity silicon and completely oxidized by a high-temperature bake to form silica, also known as silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silica is generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the FDA, and has been in wide use for many years in a range of food products and pharmaceuticals. For example, it is added in small amounts to aid with the thickening of coatings or the free-flow of powders and granulations.

The TruTag™ difference is that a unique optical signature is manufactured into the tags without the use of additional additives or markers. This allows the tags to be added to coatings and applied to the exterior of edible goods, or added to ingredients such as powders and used as a forensic marker, to be read and verified as part of an investigation or inspection process by authorized security or quality assurance personnel.

Video of the TruTag particles swimming in water:

Info page: TruTags™...

Press release: BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY ENABLES EDIBLE TRUTAG™ TO PREVENT COUNTERFEIT MEDICINE

The article, “A Novel Approach to Multihazard Modeling and Simulation,” is based on the authors’ test of the NYU computerized disaster simulation framework known as “Plan C” with a hypothetical malicious sarin release in several Manhattan locations. With the input of city demographic information, hospital resource and public transit data, the results showed that under certain circumstances, up to 22,000 individuals might become exposed, leading to 178 intensive care unit admissions.

Plan C is an innovative tool for emergency managers, urban planners, and public health officials to prepare and evaluate optimal plans for response to an array of hypothetical urban catastrophic situations. It was developed as part of the Large Scale Emergency Readiness (LaSER) Project at NYU’s Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response (CCPR).

Plan C uses a powerful, large-scale computational, multi-agent based disaster simulation framework involving as many as thousands of variables or agents – from existing hospital beds and emergency department services to hospital surge capacity and behavioral and psychosocial characteristics to anticipate public response to an attack. It has been able to simulate the complex dynamics of emergency responses in such scenarios as a chemical release, food poisoning, and smallpox.

According to the article, implementing disaster plans within 30 minutes compared to two hours of an incident diminished mortality and waiting times and reduced the number of patients who were severely affected. GIS portability to other urban locations was demonstrated.

Full story: Simulating a Public Health Disaster Using Multiple Variables Can Assist Hospitals and Cities in Preparing for Worst-Case Scenarios, NYU Researchers Find...

Abstract in Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness: A Novel Approach to Multihazard Modeling and Simulation