Could ETQ's share price be soon to benefit from their developments with the new UVGI Nightingale Mobile Air Filtration Product.

New UVGI air filtration product

In November 2002, the ETQ announced its new Nightingale UVGI air filtration product, to be produced by a new joint-venture company, UVGI Systems Limited, owned 55% by the Group and 45% by Suvair Limited. This rapid response mobile air filtration unit is capable of killing the MRSA super bug and other airborne pathogens.

The UVGI unit has widespread application where there is need to keep
air free of dangerous live bacteria, viruses, and fungal spores, including
hospitals, schools, cruise liners, aircraft, food processing, and military
applications.

The UVGI unit uses a high intensity Ultra Violet Germicidal Irradiation ('UVGI')
filter, which has been designed to control harmful and dangerous airborne
pathogens, such as Anthrax, Tuberculosis, and Staphylococcus aureus, the
causative agent in MRSA. The filtration system is combined with use of high
intensity Ultra Violet light, which inactivates micro organisms by disrupting
their DNA structure.

Tests of a prototype at the Defence Science Technology Laboratory ('Dstl') at
Porton Down, the centre for excellence for the Ministry of Defence, showed that
the UVGI unit captured and/or destroyed more than 99.9% of Bacillus subtilis
spores, a simulant for Anthrax bacteria.

Since November, second generation units have been developed, which will go on
applications testing at an NHS Trust Hospital in December 2003, following
building completion of its new haematology unit. It is also anticipated the
UVGI unit will shortly go on laboratory testing in the United States with
contractors nominated by the Department of Homeland Security.

Concern seems to be hotting up on the T.V. news that the MRSA super bug is still killing and disabling people visiting or as patients in NH Trust hospitals. It would be surprising if NH Trust hospital do not notice and Buy this product before they get to many expensive law suits for compensation claims.

Definitely a stock that could soon be heading north. Worth buying in but DYOR

L.

RELATED NEWS LINKS

Sky News Sun 28th Sept 03 - NEW ANTIBIOTICS WARNING
BBC World News Thurs 4th December 03 - Hospital infections: Case studies
BBC World News Fri 5th Dec 03 - 'Superbug' crackdown is launched
BBC World News Monday 22nd Dec 03 - Superbugs lurk in intensive care
Sky News Sun 14th Dec 03 - SUPERBUG CARRIED BY PETS
BBC World News Thurs 26th Feb 04 - Superbug deaths increase 15-fold
BBC World News Mon 22nd March 04 - MRSA superbug hits more children
BBC World News Fri 2nd April 04 - Superbug outbreak in cardiac ward
BBC World News Thurs 8th April 04 - NHS faces superbug legal claims
BBC World News Sun 6th June 04 - Government 'complacent' over MRSA
BBC World News Fri 18th June 04 - Superbug deaths 'set to double'
BBC World News Thurs 1st July 04 - Holland's tough line combats MRSA
BBC World News Thurs 1st July 04 - Overcrowded hospitals breed MRSA
ITV.com Fri 9th July 04 - Mother's MRSA nightmare
ITV.com Fri 9th July 04 - 'MRSA superbug has done this to me'
ITV.com Fri 9th July 04 - Precautions you can take against MRSA
Sky News Sun 11th July 04 - WAR DECLARED ON MRSA
BBC UK News Mon 12th July 04 - Drive to fight hospital superbugs

The facts which the Lancet & Independent have reported on, is just the sort of publicity that UVGI technology needs. The more pubblicity there is, the better public awareness is of UVGI and ETQ's Nightingale filters.

Also the greater the force HSE Authorities will be required to test air-conditioning plant in Office blocks, Hospitals, Doctor Surgeries, Schools, Hotels, Restaurants, Theatres etc. for bacteria and viruses and enforce the upgrade of adding UVGI filters.

ETQ's portable floor standing Nightingale UVGI filters may be the best cost effective solution, as the regular maintenance for UVGI filters is the accessibility to change the UV Bulbs and filtration meshes. Most existing air-conditioning plant & ductwork is above ceilings so regular maintenance could prove to be inaccessible and/or disruptive whenever they need to change a UV light bulb.

There are a very large number office and public buildings that do not have air-conditioning plant but never-the-less people who work, study or are a visitor to any of these buildings are at risk of contracting air-borne virus and bacterial infections from cross-infection with close contact whenever in a group of people. E.G. Doctors Surgery or School class room. ETQ is soon to be launching the smaller model they have developed for their floor standing Nightingale UVGI unit range and ideal to sanitise the air in smaller public areas where there is a high risk of cross-contamination in people with common viruses and baterial infections. The cost of these units should be far more acceptable to smaller businesses particularly when the volume in orders and ecconomies in scale of production come in.

ETQ have had the foresight to design products for a huge market demand that will come as public, industry and commerce awareness of their UVGI filters pick up.

Agree fully with the above comment.We are looking at a company with the product to fullfill the above requirements and as soon as the market see's this potential we will see a marked improvement in ETQ's share price.

Posted by Fair Dinkum on Ample

The Government is set to take action on the antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" which kill 5,000 hospital patients every year.

Health Secretary John Reid is backing proposals from the Chief Medical Officer to revolutionise the way potential infections are handled in hospitals and other health providers.


Chief Medical Officer for England Sir Liam Donaldson is also set to announce the latest rates of MRSA infections across individual NHS trusts.

He plans a radical shake-up of almost every aspect of the ways hospitals work, with every member of staff having to make preventing infection a priority.

Rise in deaths

The moves will include establishing dedicated Infection Control Teams, new rules on handwashing and disinfection and curbs on procedures which can cause infection.

Earlier this year Sir Liam announced a 12m drive to tackle hospital-acquired infections, which can lead to patients having to have limbs amputated and in some cases death.

Figures for the first half of last year showed that 3,500 people in England were struck down with MRSA - methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

There has also been a steep rise in "superbug" deaths in the past decade.

It is believed that the over-prescription of antibiotics in recent years has played a part in the development of infections such as MRSA.

Priority

The bug normally enters the wounds of patients in hospitals weakened by disease or injury and is especially dangerous after surgery.

It is estimated that 100,000 people a year pick up some form of infection while in hospital and the cost of the problem is estimated at around 1bn a year.

John Reid said: "Preventing as many hospital-acquired infections as possible is a top priority. That's why action is being taken now, across the NHS, to fight them.

"The greatest concern is, of course, the illness and death that result from these infections, but the economic costs are also high, and provide a compelling reason to reduce the number and severity of these infections."

Morning Dinkum,

I have just seen this mentioned on the morning news, yesterdys New Scientist also reported on the American (Canadian?) research into office infecctions and use of UV systems - does anyone know if this was using ETQ equipment or some other version which I think was discussed some time ago on this board.

Also many months ago there was a discussion here on the effectiveness of UVGI on MRSA. The initial reports seem to suggest teams telling staff how to wash their hands, no mention of equipment installation but surely this will arise as a solution.

Lets hope this mornings initial rise continues as more news continues to flow. We have seen this all over the news this last few weeks, what we need is some news from the company with regard to their involvment in all of this.


GN

Ultraviolet light can cure 'sick buildings'
14:27 28 November 03 NewScientist.com news service

Zapping bugs which flourish in office ventilation systems with ultraviolet radiation could cut the sickness suffered by millions of office workers, suggests a new study.

"Sick building syndrome", recognised as a medical condition in the 1980s, results in symptoms such as a stuffy nose, itchy eyes and throat and respiratory problems like asthma. The symptoms are especially common in people who work in air-conditioned offices, where heavy growth of bacteria and fungi is common within the ventilation systems.

Dick Menzies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and colleagues found that by installing UV germicidal irradiation (UVGI) lamps in the air-conditioning systems of three office blocks they could cut all such symptoms by 20 per cent.

"Installation of UVGI in most North American offices could resolve work-related symptoms in about four million employees," he says.

"A lot of people think sick-building syndrome is all in people's heads," Menzies told the Toronto Star newspaper. "The fact that you can install UV lights and a susceptible subgroup get biologically plausible improvements tells me that at least some of the problem is clearly not in their head."


Survival time

The team had UVGI lamps installed in the cooling coils and drip pans of the ventilation systems of three office blocks in Montreal. Resistant bugs sitting on the surfaces were predicted to have a survival time of less than four minutes.

The lamps were switched off for the first 12 weeks of the study, while 771 office workers were quizzed on the specific symptoms they suffered. The lamps were then switched on for four weeks, and off again for 12. In total, three on/off cycles were tested over 48 weeks.

In workers reporting symptoms, switching on the UVGI lamps resulted in a 20 per cent overall reduction. It also slashed respiratory symptoms by 40 per cent, and mucosal symptoms by 30 per cent.

These effects were greatest in people with known allergies and in workers who had never smoked. Muscular complaints were halved in people who never smoked.


Microbes and endotoxins

The team says the UVGI lamps resulted in a 99 per cent cut in the concentrations of microbes and of endotoxins - poisons in the cell walls of certain bacteria. Endotoxins have been associated with flu-like symptoms.

As 70 per cent of employees in North America and Western Europe now work in offices, the researchers suggest that installing UVGI may be a cost-effective way of reducing employee absence due to sick building syndrome.

More on this story

Subscribe to New Scientist for more news and features


Related Stories

Ionising air conditioners 'zap flu'
11 September 2002

Biocidal gas could kill anthrax in infected buildings
30 October 2001

Call centre early warning system for stressed staff
6 September 2001


For more related stories
search the print edition Archive



Weblinks

Dick Menzies, McGill University

Sick building syndrome, US Environmental Protection Agency

The Lancet



Other methods of cleaning office ventilators are being developed, including ones that use filters or ionisation to stop the microbes reaching workers.

However, Roy Anderson, an infectious diseases expert at Imperial College in London, UK, cautions that disinfecting ventilation systems alone is unlikely to stop outbreaks of all contagious respiratory diseases.

"You've got multiple methods of transmission and for control, you need to address all of them," he told Associated Press.

Journal reference: The Lancet: (vol 362, p 1785)

Hmmmmmmm,

I still can't see any reason why sales could take off rapidly.

As I said before, it is leased, not sold.
5 Year Lease.

Unfortunately, the Lease is 2000/Year

PLUS

4000/Year Maintainence

So who wants to pay 30,000 over 5 years just to protect 1 room?

Not many people, I would think.

So sales will only build up slowly until they manage to cut the costs of the product by developing a MUCH cheaper version.

That could take some years I suppose.

Anyway, I'm not sure that they would have the ability to rapidly increase production even if the demand was there.

This product is helpful to them to persuade people to buy their big air conditioning systems & have this technology included.

Apparently this technology can't be fitted to existing systems.

That would make a difference.

The rest of their business seems rather unexciting & the UVGI is still being evaluated by potential customers.

At the moment, the rest of their business is the business.

This is such an important application for a product BUT the price just seems too high at 6000/year.

I wanted to invest in ETQ but I was disappointed when I found out some of these facts.

Where did you get this information from ? What product are you reffering too ?

Just found a site advertising the "Nightingale"

www.uvgi.com.hk/

click "products" and scroll down.

Interesting !

Apple,

Those lease costs are going to severely hinder this, if they are correct!

30,000 to protect 1 room for 5 years seems somewhat OTT!

I can't see any great future if those costs are correct.
Are you sure?

I phoned them & asked about the costs.

DYOR, I did.

It seems that you were surprised by the costs even though I mentioned them in message 29.

If the share suddenly goes up a bit then it will just be hype, it will come down again when people realise this.

18% Spread on this share so it has got to go up a lot just for you to break even.

Product Info
http://www.energytechniqueplc.co.uk/admin/upload/files/pdf/brochure3.pdf

Apple I think you are wrong and have also contacted them ! If this is the new Nightingale unit how could you get a price for a unit that has not undergone field trials and is not commercially available ?

I am not sure what line of work peope are in, I myself am an Architect, and although I can see that 30,000 sounds alot of money, if you have any knowledge of the cost of 'ordinary' air handling equipment you will see that 6000 a year may not sound too bad. The issue is not about 1 room but rather the rate and volume of air filtration. The fact that the unit is portable is also significant. As with all new technology initial prices are high until supply is ramped up once demand can be accuratley assessed.

Clearly the price is sensitive dependant on who is the purchaser, governments, health services will tend to be cornered into paying for items due to public demands for the benefits and particularly in the US where the fear of litigation is primary - sue the hospital for $500 million because they didnt have sufficient protection with an available system and i got sick....'

The site above seems to have a number of uvgi systems, no clear mention of manufacturers in my brief look, how unique is the etq/suvair product?

We are all awaiting clear information from the company to give a clear perspective of prospects for the company..and the share price....lets see....

GN

thanks for the link apple, just read through the brochure.....interesting

moneyman,

I phoned them & they gave me the mobile number of the salesman, his name is Joe Tufo.

He gave me those figures for the Nightingale.

If you phone the sales number, they don't give you prices on this yet but will pass you on to Joe Tufo who deals with it.

BTW, he didn't use words such as "approximately" or "about"
he said that the costs were 6000/year.

Soooooooo, how can I be wrong about the cost?

Phone him yourself!

Don't bother with email, use the phone!

apple how can he quote you when the unit has not passed field trials and is not available !! Does not make sense i think you would agree ?

moneyman,

Big Customers like the NHS are evaluating it so it is available.

They have also got some others that are not being evaluated & can be delivered in 2 weeks. Joe Tufo of ETQ said 2 weeks.

Are they available in quantity?

I doubt if they would answer that question.
I doubt if they are, this is the beginning of production.

Anyway, at 6000/Year, I suggest that the demand for large quantities won't be there.

IMHO, the real purpose of this product is to get the technology known & evaluated in the NHS & other large customers as a way in to selling large air conditioning systems with the UVGI technology.

The large systems are where the real money is BUT this is going to take TIME.

So this is going to be a Long Term Investment & of course, like any other, it may not succeed.


The rest of their business is not UVGI & seems rather unexciting.
Don't forget, at the moment, the rest of their business is the business.


It seems that you still don't believe me about the price.
Why bother arguing with me, just pick up the phone & ask ETQ.

jonathen - 21 Jan'04 - 20:46 - 679 of 679


Received an e-mail today from Joe Tufo, timed at 17.04, it reads...

Dear A

As prevoiusly explained, the situation with the Nightingale is potentially price sensitive. I can confirm that the first units have now been supplied to the Hospital and have been well recieved. Further releases will be issued and authorised by the chairman at a point in the next couple of months.

I trust this will provide sufficient information, thank you for your interest.



Regards


Joseph Tufo
Managing Director UVGI Systems LTD


That is the message word for word....it states that units have been well recieved....and IMO he has confirmed that an RNS or news on their web site will be issued if and when appropriate within the next two months, this is earlier than I expected.

This has boosted my confidence somewhat.


Cheers

Has anyone found out which NHS hospital the Nightingale units are in? This could be fantastic if the RNS is released in the next two months with initial results from trials showing that the UVGI air sanitation units are eliminating MRSA and other viruses or bacteria from killing and disabling patients and visitors.

Once this news is out to this effect it will hit the National Press & TV. Whats more, if any other hospital in the world reports an MRSA or SARS outbreak in one of their patients or visitors, knowing that this technology is available and would have prevented any infection had it been used, then their legal cost would far outwiegh the cost of a lease and maintenance contract.

There was a report on Central News tonight about the New Birmingham hospital due in 2008. It claimed the hospital would boast a brand new air circulation system the would help to combat airbourne viruses. There can't be too many options for a contract of that size, and the NHS are testing the units at Basingstoke at the moment.

Regards, Rocky