Any Concerns With Chinese Pen Orders In Light Of Coronovirus?

[Tseg]

Not sure exactly where Chinese pens are made (Wuhan?)? With the hype the media is placing on this pending pandemic will mail out of China slow further? When package arrives anybody taking any precautionary steps?

I placed my first Chinese pen order a week ago and was advised it won’t ship until the end of the month due to Chinese New Year. In parallel I ordered some additional #6 nibs from China of varying size to compliment the pen and they have already shipped. Boil them?

Nothing to see here?

Edited January 26, 2020 by Tseg

[Addertooth]

Tseg,

 

Your question goes to the nature of the virus itself. Some virus which are RNA variants are very fragile, such as HIV. Coronavirus is not as fragile. Under dryer and cooler winter conditions can remain viable on an inert platic surface at a rate which exceeds 50 percent in excess of 72 hours. Warmer and Moister conditions causes a more rapid degradation of the virus. Keep in mind, even diluted bleach is highly disruptive to its RNA structure. As far as boiling, that temperature would likely damage the plastic of the pen as well. So if you are concerned, a concentration of one ounce of Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) to one gallon of water would be sufficient to sanitize a pen. Use a saturated Q-Tip to get the inside of the pen as well.

 

It remains that human to human exposure is the most effective method of transfer, with micro-droplets expelled by the sickly host being inhaled by those around them. There are known cases of transfer where human-to-human transfer could not possibly be the case.

 

Addertooth

[Tseg]

Addertooth, thanks for your (hopefully) informed response. Moral of story: don't overnight express a pen from China. But with the degradation rate you site, a 2-3 week trip likely would address the issue. The next question, will the postal system from China be slowed further for various reasons?

[Arkanabar]

I don't know that I'd dilute as much as Addertooth suggests. Quarter strength Dakin's solution, which is 0.125% sodium hypochlorite, is plenty adequate as an antiseptic and disinfectant. You can make a small batch with 5mL bleach (say, 1 tsp) in 20mL (2/3 cup) water. Discard what you don't use, as it will break down fairly quickly. I've heard of 1/8 strength Dakin's solution, but I haven't seen it in clinical use.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Arkanabar

[tamiya]

Addertooth, thanks for your (hopefully) informed response. Moral of story: don't overnight express a pen from China. But with the degradation rate you site, a 2-3 week trip likely would address the issue. The next question, will the postal system from China be slowed further for various reasons?

 

Congestion is always pretty bad afaik... if China bans all private vehicles from use, wouldn't that LESSEN the traffic jams & help Postman Pat'svans get through FASTER instead?

 

 

Interesting that CoronaVirus can survive half life over 72hrs; yeah HIV barely 4hrs.

 

Might have to wipe over any new arrivals with alcohol swabs... sure it's taken 3-4wks to arrive since packing, but that's just the insides. Outside might harbour fresher strains.

[SpecTP]

I would think the Chinese New Year would have more of an impact than the virus at this point

[Addertooth]

Because the Coronavirus is more fragile than many other microorganisms, such as bacteria and the very hardy members of the fungus family, a less strong solution is needed to denature them. When it comes to cleaning pens, I tend to be conservative on cleaning agents. Dakin's solution is overkill in the case of Coronavirus, and a more gentle approach would normally be sufficient. This, is under the assumption that the new strain has all of the vulnerabilities of previously published varieties. They just finished doing a full genetic sequence of it earlier today, so I expect more details will be out soon. My native state is already the home to some rather amazing microorganism, as a hot desert environment tends to make for more hardy strains of life. To this end, I am not too scared of the coronavirus (Yet), until analysis of the sequencing is better reviewed.

[Mercian]

I would think the Chinese New Year would have more of an impact than the virus at this point

 

I totally agree.

Also, you have highlighted what is actually a far more-likely cause of an infection spreading than is the shipping of pens....

 

Whether or not any pathogen can survive outside a live host for long periods, inert trans-shipped non-food goods are not what I would be focussing my mental ‘worry-budget’ on....

 

Take a festival that sees the most-populous people on the planet gather their extended-families together for a week-long blow-out and then go back home, couple it with modern jet aircraft travel - often via Atlanta-style transit hubs - and you have the almost perfect recipe for a global pandemic.

 

Inter-personal transmission inside a transit hub, or on a modern jet aircraft (since in-flight smoking has been banned the airlines have been able to save on fuel costs by recycling onboard air for longer) is, in my opinion, FAR more likely to spread any lurgies than inter-continental shipping.

 

For reference, look at the biggest ‘single-shot’ killer of humans in the modern era, the ‘Spanish ‘flu’ pandemic of 1918-19.

The global death toll from that disease is estimated at somewhere between 50 million & 100 million. Far, far more than the numbers killed in the actual war.

It was spread around the world from its US source via Troop Ships (‘patient zero’ for the initial outbreak of the virus, like ‘patient zero’ for its far-more-deadly first mutation, got conscripted from a midwestern farm in to the US Army, housed in a massive camp for basic training, and then got sent over the Atlantic to France to fight WW1. In slow-moving, overcowded ships on which they weren’t allowed to open the portholes at night for fear of being seen by German U-boats).

 

The only country that never succumbed to the outbreak was Australia - because they had heard about the disease via the telegraph system, and they imposed a quarantine system on all ships disembarking humans in to their country.

 

In our modern ‘global village’, interconnected as it is by jet aircraft, any recently-infected passengers bearing the new disease can quite easily get in to your country before you have time to impose quarantine conditions, and perhaps even before they have developed detectable symptoms.

 

It’s a ‘cheery’ thought, isn’t it?

Edited January 26, 2020 by Mercian

[SpecTP]

the two most recent 'pandemic' events were MERS (2015) and SARS (2003).. both were managed.

[basterma]

I am in China now. The precautions they are taking are intended to allow the supply chain to build up to deal with the infectious nature of the virus. The incubation period varies from one to fourteen days and it can be transmitted during that period. It mimics colds and flu, but escalates to pneumonia rapidly. People with weakened immune systems and pre-existing conditions are vulnerable. The escalation into pneumonia means there is a significant chance that the amount of people needing breathing assistance is more than the available equipment and hospital space. They do not have warehouses filled with breathing tubes, respirators and the multitude of things needed to care for these cases. These things have to be made or shipped in, as do the raw materials. You have medical staff that need to be moved in and out. Trying to do all that while 800 million people are traveling around on vacation is not a headache they can afford. So they have quarantined cities and stopped inter-city buses and taxis to delay the spread and allow the supply chain to catch up. Given how many people in the cities depend on delivery services for groceries and the efficiency of the service, I doubt it will be shut down. However deliveries of pens will likely be delayed. Given that many of the systems are automated, there may be less impact than we think. Personally I am staying put, as the stress of being evacuated and the long flight out of here is not going to help my health. Sleeping well, eating healthy, exercise, and minimizing contact are better from where I stand. I am a teacher, schools are closed indefinitely so I think my exposure is less than stomping through airports filled with people.

[bobje]

This is a discussion board about fountain pens. Let’s focus on pens. Regarding pandemics, a reliable source is in order. In the USA, anyway, the National Institutes of Health? Centers for Disease Control?

[Bibliophage]

I've been reading what's been issued by the CDC.

 

I'd be more likely to wipe down the outside of a pen with a very dilute Lysol solution, let it dry, then rinse wipe. The inside of the pen is unlikely to be affected, even by an infected packager.

 

They really don't know _what_ the infection vectors are at present (which point in the infection is the transmission likely) - that's likely to take another few weeks to months to nail down.

 

As others have said, I'm more concerned about shipping during the Lunar New Year. Most of the shipping, I'm reasonably certain, actually happens from warehouses closer to the coastline.

[corniche]

Well, it seems to be centered in and around Wuhan; I don't know of any pen or ink manufacturers in that area... and couldn't find any through Chinese Directory Assistance, either. I think these concerns are a nonissue.

 

 

Sean

Edited January 27, 2020 by corniche

[MHBru]

I wonder if Barbicide... The antiseptic used by barbers to sanitize all their instruments both metal and plastic.. Would be safe on pens?

[corniche]

I wonder if Barbicide... The antiseptic used by barbers to sanitize all their instruments both metal and plastic.. Would be safe on pens?

Not a bad idea, MHBru; naturally, I wouldn't use it on celluloids, acetates, or ebonite, but for mainstream, manufactured plastics, it would probably be ideal.

 

 

Sean

[KBeezie]

I'm curious if the light irradiation the postal service (US) does on most mail, is strong enough to have an impact on that specific virus. (Unless that's specifically for bacteria).

I do know when we had an anthrax scare, some mail was irradiated to kill it in potential inbound letters/packages, but anthrax required such a high dose it altered the appearance of the mail.

[Bibliophage]

I'm curious if the light irradiation the postal service (US) does on most mail, is strong enough to have an impact on that specific virus. (Unless that's specifically for bacteria).

 

I do know when we had an anthrax scare, some mail was irradiated to kill it in potential inbound letters/packages, but anthrax required such a high dose it altered the appearance of the mail.

Bacteria are a bit more vulnerable than viruses to irradiation, unless in spore form.

 

I'd use Lysol (concentrate) over Barbicide. I did some research a year or so ago on comparisons between a number of different germicides, and 'Good Old' Lysol was right there in the middle of the pack, better than some of the more extreme medically used ones. It's also a lot easier to get ahold of. Most small grocery stores still carry it, sometimes even Wal-Mart.

 

Latest CDC was that the US infection was fully genome mapped on the 24th, and compared against the original genome map provided by the Chinese, with basically a full match.

 

Remember - the flu kills 35,000 people a year, hospitalizing 200,000 (and that may just be in the US). Neither of the earlier coronaviruses even came close. The risk was (in SARS) the killing off of birds (food animals), and the poor way that infection vectors were often handled. Nobody wants a repeat of the 1918 flu epidemic.

 

Anyway - I have some stuff on order from China, I'll just be patient until they arrive. It usually takes three to four weeks anyway.

[Karmachanic]

No.

[WLSpec]

No.

+1. No concerns whatsoever.

[KBeezie]

I'm more concerned with more common stuff such as the flu and various preventable illnesses causing more deaths amid the US's stupidity with anti-vaxxers.