BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The Covid-19 virus might be here to stay but a Brownsville medical doctor asserts he has the answer to keep the pandemic at bay.
Dr. Madhavan A. Pisharodi, a veteran neurosurgeon, has invented a device designed to stop the virus from spreading that he said could save millions of lives in this country and the world over.
Based on his research following the outbreak of Covid in late 2019, he claims air conditioning is one of main propagators of the respiratory virus that is attributed to killing more than 1.2 million people in the United States alone in the nearly three years it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Pisharodi’s hypothesis is based on the premise that rich countries like the USA and Europe are by far the most dependent on AC whereas in poorer countries people don’t generally install central systems to warm or cool their homes or businesses.
AC was first designed in 1902 by Willis Haviland Carrier of New York and it wasn’t until 1914 that the first AC system went into a home.
Also credited for inventing the device was Frederick Jones, a Black American inventor from Kentucky.
Pisharodi said an AC acts like an incubator which allows the virus to stay closer to people during long periods of time – something which he claimed happened during the pandemic.
His main device is called a Portable Personal Bio-protection Device, which is something similar to a portable oxygen concentrator.
Another device is attached to an AC duct and it acts as a disinfectant.
He said the main mission of his invention is to provide total protection and prevention for both people and the communities they live in.
As to how much would it cost to buy an unit, he said this is too premature at this point because the product will need a patent as well as approval from the Center for Disease Control, or CDC.
Pisharodi said vaccines, masks, social distances and lockdown guidelines and staying at home are what he calls passive preventions.
“The reason why I call it passive prevention,” he said, “is because the virus does not go away.”
Pisharodi said he invented and patented a number of devices, including several plates used on patients with back issues.
But he believes his Covid device could be a breakthrough in the fight against Covid.
In his opinion, the air conditioner used in today’s homes and businesses are the culprit for this latest pandemic still inflicting the world.
“People in poorer countries were not affected as much as people in the richer countries,” he said, referring to the pandemic. “The more people understand about this the better the country and the world will be.”
A big supporter of Pisharodi and his work on Covid is former state Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville. Lucio recently held a meeting for Pisharodi at the offices of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Weslaco at which the physician gave a detailed power point presentation on his research. Among those to attend were Willacy County Judge Aurelio ‘Keter’ Guerra and Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for health and human services for Hidalgo County.
Lucio said he organized a Zoom meeting for Pisharodi with health leaders at Texas A&M University. Asked if A&M had embraced Pisharodi’s ideas, Lucio said he was not sure. Lucio also said he would be reconfiguring the AC in his home in light of Pisharodi’s research.
Editor’s Note: Rio Grande Guardian International News Service reporter Steve Taylor contributed to this story from Weslaco, Texas.
