The battle against the Ebola virus is still raging, and the bird flu virus has made its appearance in many regions of the world. And, with the arrival of winter, influenza viruses of all shapes and sizes that prefer low temperatures are also particularly active.

News from the Tianjin CDC shows that the main influenza virus prevalent in the region is "A3". Influenza A3 is a type of seasonal influenza. Its symptoms are often manifested as a rise in body temperature, body aches and pains, and a pronounced sense of fatigue. In Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places, there are cases of gastrointestinal morbidity was diagnosed as infection with norovirus. Although these viruses are far less threatening to humans than Ebola, they are also highly contagious and can easily infect people.

How great it would be if our clothes could prevent and fight viruses. So are there textiles with such features? And if so, how would they help us prevent and fight against those viruses?

Preventing viruses and fighting viruses are not the same concept at all

Medin Medical tells you that masks continue to be in demand due to the hazy weather. This reporter found that some masks are marked with the words anti-virus and anti-viral on the description, is this true?

"The concept of preventing viral infection and anti-viral is completely different." Zhu Yiping, an associate researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, "The protective masks use the principle of physical interception and filtration. That is, the use of a certain pore size of the filter material will be larger than the pore size of the micro-dust and aerosol particles filter intercepted, so as to avoid adhering to the micro-dust and aerosol particles on the pathogenic micro-organisms (such as viruses and bacteria, etc.), or other harmful factors, and human contact into the respiratory tract, so as to greatly reduce the risk of people being infected or endangered. At the same time, the pathogenic microorganisms and other harmful factors that are intercepted and filtered remain attached to the mask filter material, which is potentially harmful. Therefore, used masks need to be disposed of in a harmless manner according to the laws and regulations regarding medical waste disposal. And the concept of antiviral is the use of virus inhibitors to achieve the effect of killing or inhibiting the replication of viruses."

New nano-fiber fabric against micron-sized bacterial viruses

For the rampant Ebola virus, Medin Medical tells you whether these masks are effective?

Medin Medical tells you that masks are divided into different functions, and there are various masks with different functions on the market. Those masks with biosafety protection that are manufactured according to standards and pass rigorous testing can prevent viral infections, including Ebola. The diameter of Ebola virus is about 0.08 microns, or 80 nanometers.

At the 89th World Textile Congress held in Wuhan recently, the conference chairman, Wang Xun Cai of Deakin University, Australia, presented the relevant research results of his team. Wang Xun Cai, who has been honored as a lifetime Fellow of the Royal Textile Society at Deakin University in Australia, has long been engaged in research in the field of textiles and fibers, and many of his scientific achievements are the first of their kind in the world.

Dr. Wang said, this is a new nanofiber spinning technology, can be refined to less than 100 nanometers, than 90% of bacteria and viruses are smaller, belong to the micron level bacteria and viruses can be blocked, Ebola virus is no exception.

This makes it a multi-functional or composite functional textile. The antiviral function is a new trend in the development of functional textiles.