Read through my journal and remembered a dream I had back in November - that they filmed a Covid version of GJ series 2 - script was re-written to fit it. Everyone wore face masks, always stood six feet apart and the intimacy displayed between Anne & Ann largely consisted of them shouting ‘kiss’ from a distance or kissing but with face masks on with badly printed lips on them... They lay in separate beds but in the same room - reaching out to touch each other’s elbows and Ann just stared at her and went,  “Remind me why were doing this again, Anne?!”  To which Anne answered by first pouring brandy all over her hands and Ann’s face before touching Ann’s cheek affectionately,  “Because all the fashionable people do it and besides I’ve read that love grows greater apart - we are doing this for us!” Sometimes dreams come true - But I seriously hope this is not one of them!

Evaluation of Efficiency of Commercial Hand Sanitizers/Disinfectants in the Philippines to Reduce Skin Microbial Contamination

Raymond  Sucgang1,2,3, Esperanza Moya2, Maricar Ching2, Gerna Manatad3, Plormelinda Olet3, Jayvee Villagracia3, Ralph Lago3

1R.J. Sucgang Center for Research in the Natural Sciences, Napti, Batan, Aklan

2Centro Escolar University, Mendiola, Manila

3MMC-14 Anluwage, Development Academy of the Philippines

Hand sanitation is very crucial in the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases. Hand sanitizers may help reduce the bioburden of microbes on the skin.  Although hand sanitizers have been shown to be as effective as hand washing in reducing bacterial load, not all hand sanitizers have the same capability to kill / eradicate the growth of different microorganisms. This study evaluated the efficacy of commercially available disinfectant hand sanitizers in the reduction of the bioburden of bacterial hand contamination in twelve (12) volunteer participants. The products tested were:  (1.) ethyl alcohol-based hand gel sanitizers, (2.) isopropyl  alcohol-based hand gel sanitizers, (3.) water-benzalkonium chloride hand sanitizers, and (4.) 2-propanol-benzalkonium chloride disinfectants, that were all accessible in supermarkets. Samples were picked from various retail outlets. Forty-five healthy volunteers participated in the study: 12 for efficacy and 33 for organoleptic studies. The initial procedure required the evaluators to systematically wash their hands with soap and water and air drying. This was followed by contaminating the right and left palms with 5 mL each of  homogenized filthy river water  suspension . The left palm was rinsed with 10 mL sterile distilled water and air dried. The right palm was sanitized with 10 mL of the test disinfectant solution and air dried. Swabs were taken from the palms of the participants after the procedures. The swab obtained from the left palm served as control, while the swab taken from the right palm served as the test sample. The experiment was repeated four more times per participant, and each repetition used a different test sample until all the four types of hand sanitizers were tried out. The numbers of viable bacterial microbes present after application on each palm were used to calculate the efficacy of the hand rub. Efficiency was calculated by comparing the viable microbial load in the left palm (control) versus the microbial load in the right palm (test setup).  Disinfectants with the ability to reduce the microbial load by 50% (equivalent to Log reduction below 3) were considered effective. For the Total Plate Count (TPC) determination, the conventional pour plate technique as described by ISO Method 4833 was followed. The collected swab samples were inoculated into 5 ml of nutrient broth in test tubes followed by serial dilution until 10-3 dilution of each sample. A 0.1 ml of the last dilution was poured into sterile Petri dishes. To each of this broth culture dilution, sterile nutrient agar was dispensed. The agar was allowed to solidify, after thoroughly mixing the poured solution with the agar. Total Plate Counts expressed as colony forming units per mL(cfu/ml), were determined after incubation at 30°C for 72 h. Average TPC was reported per test setup. Results of the study showed that ethyl alcohol sanitizers reduced the microbial load by 43% while the isopropyl alcohol sanitizers reduced the microbial load by 35%. The benzalkonium chloride-based solutions reduced the bacterial load more significantly. Benzalkonium chloride in water sanitizers reduced microbial load to as much as 92% while the benzalkonium chloride in 2-propanol disinfectant solution completely eliminated the microbes ( TPC=0). The antimicrobial potency of commercially available hand sanitizers were revealed in this study. The organoleptic study involved 33 trained evaluators. The participants were asked to apply one of each kind of the test sanitizers daily on their hands for ten times per day for a period of 5 days. Rating scales which included rheology, greasiness, and skin irritability of the test sanitizers were collected at the end of each week. The hand sanitizer samples were tested one at a time per week using a randomized block design program. The preference for gel sanitizers instead of the water based solutions were demonstrated in the results. Alcogels with moisturizers and which were less greasy were the most preferred hand sanitizers by the respondents. 

Sweden Rethinks Zero Tolerance Drug Policy as Cocaine Use Rises

Officials in Sweden are rethinking their policies as cocaine use, and overdoses, continue to rise despite their hard-line stance on drugs.According to SVT, Sweden’s national public news broadcasting service, the drug has only grown stronger, more common, and cheaper in the last few years.Police and customs have seized 300% more cocaine since 2012. Swedish customs reports seizing as much as 485 kg of the stuff. Cocaine was also found to be the cause of death in 20 cases last year, a massive increase from a few years ago with just one reported case.While such numbers may seem small in relation to other countries, such a significant spike has caused concern in Sweden and a scramble to find out why.“Cocaine has increased at least four-fold. This indicates that usage has increased,” said Robert Kronstrand, of the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine. “Blood samples have improved, which may explain more positive tests, but that's not the reason for the sharp increase.”Even the police agree that better testing doesn’t account for the sharp rise in cocaine cases. They’ve seen a significant shift in who is dying, and where: past cocaine deaths were associated with social gatherings, but almost all 2018 deaths were at home.Sweden’s drug policy is being called into question as it is among one of the most hard-line policies in Europe. Police have the authority to urine test anyone they suspect of using drugs, and pretty much no distinction is made between hard and soft drugs. The policy’s aim was to squash all use of drugs.“Prohibiting both personal use and the possession and sale of drugs in Sweden makes it harder for 'open drug scenes' to arise, i.e. places where drugs are used and sold more or less openly. This is an important element in systematically reducing access to drugs and preventing people from using drugs,” the policy reads.In a grim sense, the policy succeeded, leading people to use and die in their own homes. It’s a policy that has come under criticism by the United Nations.Sweden’s laws stand in stark contrast to its neighbor Norway, which is moving towards the decriminalization of all drugs. The intention is to “stop punishing people who struggle, but instead give them help and treatment,” said Nicolas Wilkinson of Norway’s Socialist Labour Party. The end goal is to divert the handling of drug cases away from the justice system to the health care system.In Sweden, multiple parties in parliament have banded together to take on the problem. This isn’t the first time Sweden has swiftly responded to substance abuse issues, having restricted the sale of hand sanitizer in 2016 after a rash of teenagers showed up in emergency rooms from drinking the alcogels.

Sweden Rethinks Zero Tolerance Drug Policy as Cocaine Use Rises

Officials in Sweden are rethinking their policies as cocaine use, and overdoses, continue to rise despite their hard-line stance on drugs.According to SVT, Sweden’s national public news broadcasting service, the drug has only grown stronger, more common, and cheaper in the last few years.Police and customs have seized 300% more cocaine since 2012. Swedish customs reports seizing as much as 485 kg of the stuff. Cocaine was also found to be the cause of death in 20 cases last year, a massive increase from a few years ago with just one reported case.While such numbers may seem small in relation to other countries, such a significant spike has caused concern in Sweden and a scramble to find out why.“Cocaine has increased at least four-fold. This indicates that usage has increased,” said Robert Kronstrand, of the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine. “Blood samples have improved, which may explain more positive tests, but that's not the reason for the sharp increase.”Even the police agree that better testing doesn’t account for the sharp rise in cocaine cases. They’ve seen a significant shift in who is dying, and where: past cocaine deaths were associated with social gatherings, but almost all 2018 deaths were at home.Sweden’s drug policy is being called into question as it is among one of the most hard-line policies in Europe. Police have the authority to urine test anyone they suspect of using drugs, and pretty much no distinction is made between hard and soft drugs. The policy’s aim was to squash all use of drugs.“Prohibiting both personal use and the possession and sale of drugs in Sweden makes it harder for 'open drug scenes' to arise, i.e. places where drugs are used and sold more or less openly. This is an important element in systematically reducing access to drugs and preventing people from using drugs,” the policy reads.In a grim sense, the policy succeeded, leading people to use and die in their own homes. It’s a policy that has come under criticism by the United Nations.Sweden’s laws stand in stark contrast to its neighbor Norway, which is moving towards the decriminalization of all drugs. The intention is to “stop punishing people who struggle, but instead give them help and treatment,” said Nicolas Wilkinson of Norway’s Socialist Labour Party. The end goal is to divert the handling of drug cases away from the justice system to the health care system.In Sweden, multiple parties in parliament have banded together to take on the problem. This isn’t the first time Sweden has swiftly responded to substance abuse issues, having restricted the sale of hand sanitizer in 2016 after a rash of teenagers showed up in emergency rooms from drinking the alcogels.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241841 http://bit.ly/2G815lR

Sweden Rethinks Zero Tolerance Drug Policy as Cocaine Use Rises

Officials in Sweden are rethinking their policies as cocaine use, and overdoses, continue to rise despite their hard-line stance on drugs.According to SVT, Sweden’s national public news broadcasting service, the drug has only grown stronger, more common, and cheaper in the last few years.Police and customs have seized 300% more cocaine since 2012. Swedish customs reports seizing as much as 485 kg of the stuff. Cocaine was also found to be the cause of death in 20 cases last year, a massive increase from a few years ago with just one reported case.While such numbers may seem small in relation to other countries, such a significant spike has caused concern in Sweden and a scramble to find out why.“Cocaine has increased at least four-fold. This indicates that usage has increased,” said Robert Kronstrand, of the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine. “Blood samples have improved, which may explain more positive tests, but that's not the reason for the sharp increase.”Even the police agree that better testing doesn’t account for the sharp rise in cocaine cases. They’ve seen a significant shift in who is dying, and where: past cocaine deaths were associated with social gatherings, but almost all 2018 deaths were at home.Sweden’s drug policy is being called into question as it is among one of the most hard-line policies in Europe. Police have the authority to urine test anyone they suspect of using drugs, and pretty much no distinction is made between hard and soft drugs. The policy’s aim was to squash all use of drugs.“Prohibiting both personal use and the possession and sale of drugs in Sweden makes it harder for 'open drug scenes' to arise, i.e. places where drugs are used and sold more or less openly. This is an important element in systematically reducing access to drugs and preventing people from using drugs,” the policy reads.In a grim sense, the policy succeeded, leading people to use and die in their own homes. It’s a policy that has come under criticism by the United Nations.Sweden’s laws stand in stark contrast to its neighbor Norway, which is moving towards the decriminalization of all drugs. The intention is to “stop punishing people who struggle, but instead give them help and treatment,” said Nicolas Wilkinson of Norway’s Socialist Labour Party. The end goal is to divert the handling of drug cases away from the justice system to the health care system.In Sweden, multiple parties in parliament have banded together to take on the problem. This isn’t the first time Sweden has swiftly responded to substance abuse issues, having restricted the sale of hand sanitizer in 2016 after a rash of teenagers showed up in emergency rooms from drinking the alcogels.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241841 https://www.thefix.com/sweden-rethinks-zero-tolerance-drug-policy-cocaine-use-rises