21st Century Infection Control
An affiliate of Patterson Blain Environmental
JN.1 Variant Prevention
Viruses, including the JN.1 Variant, are among the tiniest things on Earth.
It is difficult to imagine just how small these microscopic pathogens are. Their infinitesimal size allows them to invade and infiltrate almost any barrier.
This is what we are dealing with...
Just how small is the Coronavirus? Take a look at these comparisons.
The tiny SARS-CoV-2 viral particle that causes the Omicron Variant of Covid-19 infections is about 120 nanometers in diameter. There are 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch. The beachball in the image to the right is 48 inches, or 1,219,200,000 nanometers wide. The beachball is 10,462,320 times larger than the virus.
The Earth is 7,926 miles wide. There are 5280 feet in a mile, so the Earth is 41,849,250 feet or 502,191,360 inches in diameter. The beachball is 48 inches, so the size relationship, or scale is 10,462,320 times larger than the beachball.
The microscopic Omicron Variant has the same size relationship next to a 48 inch beach ball of Earth, that the beachball would have next to the actual Earth!!!
The Cron: How did the Omicron variant evolve?
A desperate lottery is taking place in the unseen world that surrounds us. The virus survives by constantly reproducing virions (replicas) within the cells of the creatures it infects. The number of virions in a single host are staggering, and the potential for mutation exist with every single one. A bat in China, a mink in Denmark, a chicken in Mexico, a stockbroker on an elevator in New York City, all have served as living factories for the invading armies of virions (the infective progeny of the virus).
Mutations are changes in the structure of a cell. Genetic codes dictate the order of amino acids used to construct a protein. A change in the code of a single amino acid can make a big difference in a newly constructed virus. Mistakes in this construction process are called mutations. Some of these mistakes (mutations) weaken the virus, while others make it better. The mistakes that occurred as the Wuhan virus reproduced, resulted in better version, the Delta Variant. Mistakes that occurred as the Delta Variant reproduced resulted in the Omicron Variant (The Cron). Those mistakes in the construction process made the virus more effective, but trillions of mistakes occur that make it weaker. We never see the result of those mistakes, because they do not survive.
If the virus was a house, the Genome (the genetic instructions for the virus), would be the architectural plan. Amino acids are like the materials used to build a house: lumber, cement, sheetrock, electrical wiring, shingles, bricks. Proteins would be like the rooms of the house. The kitchen needs pipes for water, electricity for lights and appliances, while the living room may need different materials. The pipes and the wiring to carry electricity are the amino acids in this comparison. The roof will need shingles and the outside walls will need bricks. The roof, walls, and floors of the house are cell structures in our analogy. All of these materials have to be put together according to the plan, or the house will not work properly.
A virus is like a hard-headed carpenter. It looks at the architect's plans, then decides to build the house the way that it wants instead. It uses its own set of plans. It steals the building materials (amino acids) and uses those materials to make its own house. Sometimes the crazy carpenter gets confused. It might use bricks to build the roof (roof protein), which then collapses, so the house is defective. It might forget to run water pipes (water pipe protein) to the bathroom or the kitchen. Once again, the house is defective. But what if the carpenter mistakenly uses more lumber when building the walls of the house, its mistake results in a stronger wall. That single change makes the house stronger. The next time a storm comes along, the houses with the weaker walls are blown down, but the houses constructed using more lumber in the walls are stronger. They survive the storm and soon there are more houses with stronger walls, than those with weaker walls.
Sometimes even a bad carpenter accidentally improves a house!
Any mutation, or mistake in construction of the virus, that accidently improves the virus' ability to replicate and survive, may result in more of those changed/improved virions than the original version. This only happens on rare occasions. There are trillions of mutations and mistakes occurring every day, but
only a few become variants of concern (VOC's).
Covid-19 Personal Protection Strategy
Editor's note:
Information on this page regarding Covid-19 has been compiled from more than 100 research "studies." Most of these studies are peer reviewed and all have been conducted by credible sources, such as universities, hospitals, and laboratories.
The following press release from Patterson Blain Environmental recommends new protective measures for Covid-19.
--For immediate release--
September 14, 2020
By Alysen Johnson
Patterson Blain Environmental
Corpus Christi, Texas 78402
Can Blowing Your Nose Help Prevent Covid-19 Infection?
“Keep your nose clean! Blowing your nose may help you avoid a serious Covid-19 infection,” according to Jack Blain, an infection control specialist at Patterson Blain Environmental.
“Brush your teeth like always, but while you are at it, rinse your nasal passages with saline solution, brush your tongue, then gargle with an antiseptic mouthwash. This will help discharge any SARS-CoV-2 viral particles. Emphasizing common hygiene practices can greatly reduce the opportunity for viral particles to accumulate and replicate,” Blain told students participating in a recent webinar at the UT Southwest School of Nursing.
“Check with your physician. Pressurized saline solution is readily available, but some doctors may recommend a medicated spray. Hold your head forward and press the button. It’s better to lean forward to prevent the solution from running down your throat, then just blow your nose.”
Blain quoted from a recent study at The University of North Carolina. “If the nose is the dominant initial site from which lung infections are seeded, then any therapeutic strategies that reduce the presence of the virus in the nose, such as nasal irrigation or antiviral nasal sprays, could be beneficial,” said Dr. Richard Boucher co-author of the study.
Researchers at UNC used highly sensitive in situ RNA mapping to determine the presence of ACE-2 (Angiotensin-converting enzymes) among cell types targeted by the virus. Tests revealed one of the highest concentrations of ACE-2 enzymes in cells lining the nasal passages. It is generally accepted that the ACE-2 enzyme, found on many human cells, attracts the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Virologist refer to this as a "delicious" condition. The genetic pattern of this enzyme is a perfect match for the Coronavirus. The virus easily attach to the ACE-2, then it takes advantage of other common enzymes in order to invade the cell.
According to Dr. Boucher, the UNC study revealed “a striking pattern of continuous variation, or gradient, from a relatively high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in epithelial cells lining the nasal passages, to less infectivity in cells lining the throat, bronchi, and lungs.”
Blain believes these findings support the opinion of many researchers and physicians that nasal passages serve as a nursery for viral replication. There is considerable evidence that accumulations of viral particles in the nose are more likely to cause severe Covid-19 infections, than particles inhaled directly into the lungs.
“This is not to say exposure to large droplets exhaled by infected people, and contact with contaminated surfaces are not a source of infection. But it may explain how exposure to tiny, aerosolized droplets can infect us,” Blain explained.
Blain also cited a Mayo Clinic study. A review of thousands of case histories determined anosmia, the loss of the sense of smell, was the earliest and most frequent symptom of Covid infection. Many asymptomatic patients noticed a decline in their ability to smell days before testing positive.
“The Mayo Clinic research indicates the olfactory centers, located deep in the nasal cavity, are often the site of the initial attack by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” Blain said. “Paying attention to your sense of smell is a good way to monitor yourself. Add a simple test to your daily routine, so that you remember to check your ability to smell.” Blain believes these and similar studies suggest "keeping your nose clean," may significantly reduce the opportunity for the virus to replicate in the nose, before it spreads into the lungs.
Blain cited research by Dr. Marin Schweizer at the University of Iowa. "This may also have a profound effect on how we keep our aged population healthy. Dr. Schweizer has been studying bacterial colonization in the nasal cavity for years. She and her colleagues have developed a protocol for treating elderly and infirm patients under long term care. Data from her studies shows elderly patients receiving nasal irrigation had fewer facility acquired infections."
“For what it’s worth, my opinion is nasal irrigation should be performed as a matter of routine in all long term care facilities,” Blain suggested.
He ended his participation by saying, “blowing your nose may not be a very cool way to start or end your day, but it might just save your life.”
We live in a dangerous world. We have overcome a hostile natural environment. We have defeated all of our competitors in the Animal Kingdom. We have mastered the Kingdom of Plants, but we are still at war with the Kingdom of the microbes...a war that has raged for thousands of years.
We have lost many lives in the struggle, but their suffering was not in vain. The battle has made us strong. Powerful defenses now protect us from the unseen enemy. Like many sovereign nations, we are protected by a vast array of defenses.
acted as a shield The approaching light of day illuminated an intricate pattern of interconnected cells. A few of the larger transports had already crashed to the surface, while lesser transports floated down in a more guarded manner. The invasion of the Human presence had begun.
The warmth of the rising Sun had a deadly effect on the Coronians. They were susceptible to the radiation and the heat. The replicants were dying by the billions in this exposed area. Most of the flat terrain was featureless, but a valley was visible toward the end of the great plain. Many of the smaller transports were carried into the cavernous darkness. They glided onto a surface scarred by numerous “nooks and crannies.” It was here in the protective shadows that the invading minions began their assault.
The smaller transports, some of them tiny, rode the air currents that funneled into the huge caverns. Coronian replicants exploded into showers of individuals, as the transports broke apart against the walls of the cavern. The individuals, called virions, lived at the deepest levels of the realm, levels inhabited by the individual member cells of the countless Human colonies. This was the molecular level, a place where the science of creation existed.
The Human city covered the entire passage, an enormous area. The home cells were spherical. They appeared to flatten near the bottom, where their roundness was cradled in the soft clay-like earth. The domes were different sizes but all were similar in design. They were packed close together, organized in long striated lines that crisscrossed the valley. The walls of the structures were irregular, covered with crystalline structures of every color and design. Hexagons, pentagons, squares, circles, stretched across the exterior walls in complex patterns. There were no visible entries among the colored shapes.
The first of thousands of Coronian patrols climbed onto the closest sphere. They appeared ant-like as they scrambled onto the comparably huge crystalline structure. Their near perfect deception is dependent on anonymity. They were new to the Earth and completely unknown, as they joined the crowd of defenders surrounding the home cell. The highly advanced camouflage of the Coronians rendered them virtually invisible. Even their cumbersome backpacks were wrapped in the protective camo. They crept forward, silently, into the churning mass of protectors.
The Humans were far from defenseless, even in the face of this Coronian onslaught. The Human city and each individual home cell was literally alive with movement. The home cells looked like bee hives. Their exteriors were swarming with sentries and protectors of every shape and form. No weapons could be seen, because combat in this realm was “hand to hand”.
The defenders had the advantage of numbers and the numbers were staggering. There were over a trillion of them entrenched or patrolling the realm of Humana. Many of these protectors were intelligent and trained to recognize irregularities. The attackers would not have a chance, except for the fact that the defenders were almost blind.
The swarms of Y shaped sentries were impossible to avoid. Each time a Coronian touched one of the nervous antibodies, it wrapped its slender arms around the invader like a long lost friend, but the embrace was short-lived and indifferent. The clumsy groping was merely the first of many searches. The antibodies quickly released the Coronians who moved further into the frenzied defenses of the home cell.
It was not long before a ghostly apparition appeared on the horizon that struck fear in hearts of the invaders. A giant macrophage was working it’s way toward the Coronian patrol. The “Big Macs” dwarfed the others. The Macs were royalty, leaders who could do most anything. Macs were very intelligent. They could find even the most deceptive foe, and mark it for destruction. They could rally an army of defenders and direct them to the enemy, and once in close, there was no more dangerous fighter. They seemed to know that their lives would soon reach an end. Their lifespan was measured in hours not days, so the Macs wasted no time. The invaders cringed as a wave of lymphocytes crawled toward them.
One of the bulbous macrophages enveloped the closest Coronian and injected it with a deadly mixture of nitrous oxide. To the Mac, the invader was simply something different. The unlucky intruder was soon melted into a paste of slimy fat.
A phalanx of deadly lymphocytes were circling the home cell as well. Leading the patrol were the “T’s,” a fierce clan of defenders. The extended family of T cells included a variety of very unique individuals, all of whom were dedicated to protecting the Human cities. Born deep in the sanctuary of the bones, they shared a common ancestry with the Macs, but the “T’s” benefited from a comprehensive education. Sent to their namesake, the Thymus, soon after birth, hence the name T cell, the highly intelligent “T’s” learned the code system of the defense force. The history of more than 100 million encounters with creatures from the outside world were contained in the Library of genetic codes and chemical signatures, that were passed along among the family of T's.
A CD-Four, one of “the old ones,” was the first T to reach the aliens. The old Fours kept the memories, the history of encounters with deadly pathogens, all the way back to the beginning. There were so many. The enemies of the Humans just kept coming. This old T, this old Four sensed something was wrong. It was like a smell, but different. It was more like a feeling, an understanding. There was something about the newly attacked cell. In fact, it was a vague genetic connection with the past that gained the attention of the Four. The old T4 was given one assignment during its youth. The wisdom of the Thymus was passed on to the cellular pupils that had returned for their education. Its education was based on repetition. A single genetic code became its focus; a code that was a vital clue, a clue to the identity of a deadly pathogen that ravaged humanity hundreds of years in the past. It was looking for that code as it stretched out an inquisitive tentacle. It searched among the many proteins and enzymes that covered the targeted cell. There was one in particular, that would prove something was wrong within a cell. It lingered for a while after its careful search, regaining a more calm demeanor. A moment later, the gelatinous creature shivered, and moved on. The connection was not strong enough. It continued its search for its own, personal nemesis. The Coronians were still safe, still anonymous, still undiscovered.
The Coronians inundated the intricate, geometric structures of the home cell walls. From a distance, they appeared to be especially interested in groups of dark blue pentagons. A flurry of activity, around the dark blue designs attracted more and more of the tiny Coronians. Suddenly a wave of excitement radiated out from one group of invaders, then another, and another.
The tiny viral particles were wrapping themselves around the stalks of the tree-like appendages. The dark blue patches were constructions of complex proteins. History would name these little blue trees. The Angiotensin 2 converting enzymes would be called ACE-2. The cell homes used the vasodilators to control the effect of Angiotensin chemical rains. These rains caused the cells to tighten and shrink. The Coronians had discovered these ACE-2 structures provided them a perfect platform. They could perch on these platforms and pull at the silky blue-green vines near the roots. The TMPRSS vines wrapped around the thin stalks of the ACE trees.
The invaders only had to pull out the TMPRSS vines to cause a split in the cell home wall. Within minutes the tiny soldiers were able to wriggle through the openings. The wide ranging scale of the invasion was now focused on burglarizing and hijacking each home cell in the city. The invasion was a success. The process of domination had begun.
The Coronians are basically transformers. Once inside they quickly shed their protective backpacks. They retained their camouflage to avoid any internal security, but the abandoned packs began a remarkable transformation. The device extends energy draining power cords into the home cell structures. The effect is dramatic and immediate, as a stream of N-type proteins are expelled into the interior.
Each of these aggressive proteins latches onto one of the home cells internal structures. The surreptitious proteins attempted to overwhelm the critical structures first. Communications and internal security systems are disabled. Taking over the cellular organs that repair and produce new materials for repairs and reproduction, may be the most insidious conversion. These structures are redirected to produce Coronians. Possibly the most incriminating revelation of the truly insidious nature of this viral attack, is its conversion of the repair and reproductive structures in the host cell. The converted process causes the host cell to literally cannibalize itself. Using the host cell membrane and pieces of other internal material, makes the Coronian replicants even more difficult to recognize. It takes less than an hour for the hijacked mechanism to clone thousands of tiny invaders. By the end of the day, tens of thousands of the replicants are released to invade other home cells, and eventually they will fill the host cell to the point of bursting.
At this point the war for control of Humana would appear to be lost…except for one unknown factor. The alien deployment of the N-type proteins took a moment too long. A secretive, internal security system composed of MHC class 1 and class 2 molecules lay unseen by the saboteurs. The system employs atomic level molecules to quietly gather materials discarded from the replication process. Almost half of the material cannibalized by the invaders, for their cloning process, is wasted. The MHC system mechanisms are able to steal pieces of these remnants. Some of the material is combined with other materials in the cell to produce antigens. Antigens can be used like bait to attract certain cell killers. One of the most dangerous, the aptly named Natural Killer. Another is a member of the and the CD-8 T cells. Other materials are combined to form road signs, signaling alarm system enhancers and memory cells. The secret underground resistance, works with the Human cell to move these peptide creations to the outside; outside, where the huge army of defenders are waiting, waiting for their blindfolds to be removed.
Once the infected cells revealed these fragments of Coronian presence, the counterattack begins. The nearby T’s react first. The CD-8’s are lured to the antigens like bees to a flower. The message conveyed to them is clear. “All is lost. I must be destroyed,” proclaims the heroic home cell. There is no time for the sympathetic defenders to mourn for the heroic sacrifice of the host. Every second counts while the captured home cells churn out more and more of the enemy clones. The Eights continue to search out the antigens and complete a connection to the infected cells.
The Eights first release a powerful mixture call perforin. The perforin eats through the infected cell membrane. Once this is accomplished, the Eights release a granule, a cytotoxic poison that begins to dissolve the Coronian clones and the mechanism for their creation.
The Eights may have begun the counterattack, but Natural Killers would continue to press the attack against the invaders. The NK’s were roaming the city of home cells, even moving from cell to cell. They searched for the MHC signs and now they were finding some. The NK’s, attracted to the MHC sites, attach to the wall, and begin the same process as the Eights. First the perforin, then the granzymes are injected into the infected cell. The NK’s also release a group of proteins called cytokines. The cytokines rally other kinds of defenders, and incite them to attack. For a time the defenders are worked into a frenzy. They begin attacking healthy, uninfected home cells. The collateral damage mounts, and if it continues the Human defenders could actually kill the home cells they are destined to protect. A cytokine induced storm that could grow and destroy the cities was gathering strength.
Some of the NK’s and other defenders become aware of the frenzy. They begin to release another form of drug that calms the enraged defenders. It takes a while, but eventually the storm begins to subside. The disaster that could have destroyed Humana has, for now, been averted.
The Eights inject their corrosive, cytoxic poison into the heroic cell. Within moments the Coronian begin to dissolve, along with their sacrificial host.
"These microbes will have the last word." Louis Pasteur
The viral explorers traveled the sub-microscopic realm of a hidden Universe in search of hospitable new worlds. They were among the tiniest structures in existence. They moved unnoticed in the unseen realm of the diminutive. A place inhabited by anonymous often deadly confederations of creatures so small, their only hope of survival was in their numbers, and thus their singular purpose was replication. They moved about aimlessly, powered by a sinister force, a force dependent on mathematical probabilities. Their vast armadas were driven forward along hidden currents of moist, warm air and somewhere before them awaited a new home.
The liquid vessels of the armada carried millions of replicants. The larger vessels were slowing down. Their situation was desperate. The energy that fueled the armada was limited. They would perish soon, billions of them, if they could not find a suitable home. The losses were tremendous. The largest most heavy laden vessels already were falling. The only chance for these victims of gravity was to abandon the wreckage. There on the surface, they could only lay motionless, awaiting a chance encounter with a host. They were always pawns, subjects to the laws of probability, and the laws of probability were just but cruel masters.
The approach of a human being had enormous consequences in this micro-universe . Again, the numbers involved in the realm of the small were staggering. Trillions upon trillions of living cells inhabited the seemingly infinite form of the human. The human's dark outline blotted out the artificial light in the distance. The gigantic mass moved through the invisible clouds of the floating armada. A pressure wave, a cushion of air enshrouded the human like invisible armor. Its movement disrupted the clouds and millions of the viral passengers fell to the ground without ever touching the human form, but this massive entity was not invulnerable. High above the falling vessels of the armada. lodged among the uppermost reaches of the human, a huge entrance provided a pathway into the inner passages.
Only the smallest vessels of the armada traveled along the wistful currents of the higher altitudes. They carried much fewer numbers of the viral invaders. Only a dozen or so of the replicants could cling to the watery conveyances. The atmosphere surrounding the human head was a turbulent maelstrom of swirling currents of air. Particulate from every imaginable source became trapped within the currents. Every few seconds a tornadic whirlpool of wind driven particles was vacuumed into the entryway.