Horror Movie Survival: Protecting Yourself From Airborne Pathogens

A common trope in stupid horror movies is authority figures who prove to be too clueless and wimpy to protect the people.

Sadly, the writers of those stupid horror movies are proving to be much smarter than they seem. Because there's nobody in charge of public health, you and I have MORE responsibility.

The threat I'm focusing on in this session is airborne pathogens. COVID-19 is an airborne disease and is still raging. Worse yet, so many people have had their immune systems weakened by COVID that more diseases have become more prevalent. H5N1 bird flu has become a full-blown pandemic for birds and cows, and not enough is being done to prevent it from becoming a pandemic for humans as well.

I believe that airborne pathogens are nastier than ingested pathogens. Unlike your stomach, your lungs do not have a strong acid that kills pathogens. You can wash your hands, but you CANNOT wash your lungs.

Fortunately, there are ways to protect yourself from airborne pathogens, and the world would be a much better place if these practices were the norm. In this session, I will focus on air purifiers and masks. Air purification and masking in tandem provide MUCH more protection than either one alone.

People are more concerned about sanitizing surfaces, but sanitizing the air is MUCH more important. Air purifiers sanitize the air, and there are ways to build them on the cheap. Yes, it's possible to build your own air purifier that's just as effective as some commercial products that are at least 10 times more expensive. You can use the money you save to build more air purifiers.

If you have abandoned wearing a mask, you should return to this practice. Just because you should wear a mask does NOT mean you have to suck it up and suffer from an uncomfortable one. In this session, I'll discuss the masks/respirators that I like because they offer comfort AND N95 or better protection. I'll discuss why I recommend the 3M HF-802SD elastomeric respirator over all others, my paper bag system for reusing my 3M Aura masks, and the masks that I hate.

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