Smallpox is the only human virus that the World Health Organization officially considers eradicated. Wiping out an infectious illness is incredibly difficult. It’s far more common for a pathogen to become endemic which means it becomes part of life in a particular place. Endemic viruses circulate consistently. They cause illness and death, but they don’t stop society from functioning. Many infectious disease experts around the world believe this is what will happen to Covid 19.

In 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started a small computer company and called it Apple Computers. The first commercial supersonic Concorde flight took place between London and New York. The film “Rocky” was released and Jimmy Carter was elected president of the USA. NASA’s Viking 1 Lander touches down on Mars and they also reveal their prototype space shuttle called “The Enterprise”. Abba, the Eagles, Queen and David Bowie helped create the sounds of 1976.

Imagine a surgical scene of today. Sterile room, harsh bright lights. The monitors beep telling everyone you’re alive. The fact is that today a surgical procedure will be virtually pain free, and your chances of coming out of surgery alive have never been higher. The anaesthetised operations of today are a world away from surgery throughout much of human history, which was unbelievably painful, extremely dangerous, and usually fatal.

In my last blog I wrote about a model that was used to predict the number of elective operations that would be cancelled during the first 12-week lockdown in March 2020. The CovidSurge collaborative predicted there would be 28 million operations cancelled globally. That represented 0.4% of the population of the world.

During the early part of 2020 more than 3.9 billion people in more than 90 countries or territories were asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments. Since then, 10 countries have locked down nationally three times, 16 have locked down nationally twice and 70 have locked down nationally once. 58 countries have either never locked down, have only locked down by region or city or have never reported. The average lockdown period either nationally or regionally was 58 days.

It’s unclear who first made this comment about the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is being used by health care leaders around the world to encourage their people to get the Covid-19 vaccination. Vaccines have played an important role throughout history in keeping us well.

You may be surprised to learn that a corneal abrasion can occur when you are having an operation and are anaesthetised. How can that possibly happen, you are probably thinking. Again, the answer is quite easily. But before we consider how a corneal abrasion can occur in the operating theatre, we need to look at how the eye behaves when it is anaesthetised, and the steps taken to protect your eyes when you have an operation.

The operation had been a long, but it had been a success. The patient had been taken into the recovery room and was being looked after by theatre staff as they were slowly woken up. In theatre the anaesthetist was talking with colleagues about the operation.

Suddenly, a member of staff put their head through the door of the recovery room and looking at the anaesthetist said, “doctor there’s a problem in the recovery room.”

Many people across the world are adapting their behaviour as we all try to stop the spread of COVID-19. We wear face masks. We stay two metres apart. We don’t mix in each other’s homes. We work from home where we can. The list varies from country to country, but we are all trying to stop the spread.

Today, in many cultures across the world people have become obsessed with achieving the perfect smile. The combination of celebrity influence and social media has helped drive the desire for that perfect smile.

We all know this quote, but its origin is a little unclear. It has been attributed to William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, the philosopher Cicero and even the bible.

Whatever the origins of this well-known quote, throughout history we have been aware that our eyes are incredibly precious organs. Not only do they allow us to see the world around us but through them we can tell what a person feels and thinks.

Ever since the first reports of Covid-19 in China (1) there has been a great deal of focus on how the virus spreads.

It is now clear that, the virus causing COVID-19, is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes.

Dr Andrew Wallis - Medical Director of Innovgas, shares his thoughts on the importance of sterile products in the theatre setting

Dr Andrew Wallis - Medical Director of Innovgas, shares his thoughts on the importance of protecting patients from COVID-19 during their procedures

Whilst not routinely used as PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) NoPress is worthy of consideration as a ‘stop gap’ measure whilst supplies are limited, and the alternative is staff at risk of droplet infection.

Earlier this month Colin Hannah relocated to the UK. This is a major step for the company and it is expected that he will be based there for the next 12-24 months.

In early January, Innovgas took a stand at the UK Association of Anaesthetists Winter Scientific meeting in London.