COVID-19 and Other Pandemics: How Might They Be Prevented?

Pandemics such as influenza, smallpox, and plague have caused the loss of hundreds of millions of lives and have occurred for many centuries. Fortunately, they have been largely eliminated by the use of vaccinations and drugs. More recently, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and now Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have arisen, and given the current absence of highly effective approved vaccines or drugs, brute-force approaches involving physical barriers are being used to counter virus spread. A major basis for physical protection from respiratory infections is eye, nose, and mouth protection. However, eye protection with goggles is problematic due to "fogging", while nose/mouth protection is complicated by the breathing difficulties associated with non-valved respirators. Here, we give a brief review of the origins and development of face masks and eye protection to counter respiratory infections on the basis of experiments conducted 100 years ago, work that was presaged by the first use of personal protective equipment, "PPE", by the plague doctors of the 17th Century. The results of the review lead to two conclusions: first, that eye protection using filtered eye masks be used to prevent ocular transmission; second, that new, pre-filtered, valved respirators be used to even more effectively block viral transmission.

Eye Injuries across history and the evolution of eye protection.

PURPOSE: To describe the history of eye injuries and the consequent evolution of eye protection. METHODS: A comprehensive search of Medline and the grey literature using the terms 'ocular trauma' and 'eye protection' or 'injury prevention' and 'history'. References were used to identify other relevant publications. Publications were classified according to the setting of eye injury: occupational, recreational or combat-related. RESULTS: Eye protection has been described in a wide range of sources, including in literature and art. With advances in eye protection material and design, as well as government and societal promotion of appropriate eye protection usage in the workplace, the epidemiology of ocular trauma has changed over time. In developed countries, the use of eye protection in the workplace has reduced the proportion of occupation-related eye injuries over the last century, with a higher proportion occurring during sports or at home. New protection devices and policies have evolved to meet this change. CONCLUSION: Vision loss has broad implications for the individual and for society and despite available prevention strategies, ocular trauma is a significant cause of preventable monocular and bilateral vision loss. The use of appropriate eye protection has reduced the burden of ocular trauma. History provides lessons for informing current eye protection and eye injury prevention strategies.

"The world is upside down" - The Innsbruck Goggle Experiments of Theodor Erismann (1883-1961) and Ivo Kohler (1915-1985).

The "Innsbruck Goggle Experiments" on long-term wearing of reversing mirrors, prismatic and half prismatic goggles, and colored half goggles represent a milestone in research on adaptation (adapting to the introduced "disturbance") and after-effects (after removal of the "disturbance"). By means of these goggles it is, for example, possible to invert or distort the visual field (such as flipping top and bottom or left and right), as well as to observe how individuals learn to change the image back to vertical or recognize left and right. The Innsbruck Experiments gave decisive momentum to further international research on the ontogenetic development of perception, special perception, color perception, perceptual constancy, sensorimotor coordination, as well as to the development of theories. In the current paper, aside from presenting the history and results of selected studies, we will give an introduction to the life and work of the protagonists of these studies in Innsbruck, namely Theodor Erismann (1883-1961) and Ivo Kohler (1915-1985). Furthermore, we will propose ideas for future research on cognition and neuroscience.

How Protective Eyewear Has Changed Dramatically Over the Decades.

Today's safety eyewear can be so lightweight and comfortable that at times workers don't even notice they are wearing it once it's on.

Cuidados oftalmológicos en la Guerra de Vietnam, medio siglo después. Datos obtenidos del Ejército Estadounidense / Ophthalmic care in the Vietnam War, half a century later. Data obtained from United States Army

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Prescription Safety Eyewear: Style, Design, Ergonomics, Delivery.

Glasses are more protective, resilient, and fashionable than ever before.

Sunglasses and sunglass standards.

Sunglasses and sunglass standards are reviewed from the point of view of the history of sunglasses and the development of sunglass standards. The need for eye protection from solar radiation is discussed and the provisions of the various national sunglass standards are discussed in relation to that need.