Quote:
Originally Posted by Noneya
Are you sure you're not confusing the simple fact that humans generate CO2, so higher CO2 just means you're breathing more of others' air when you say things like "Covid can't grow in oxygen"? The concentration of CO2 indoors, no matter how high or low relatively is still absurdly low in absolute terms.
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There is a threshold for which the virus is not transmitted to most humans. In order to buffer the acidic nature of CO2, the enzyme carbonic anhydrase disassociates from the ACE2 receptor and binds CO2 to neutralize its acidic pH. The disassociation of carbonic anhydrase opens the ACE2 receptor. The receptor is in an open or closed state depending on the protein complex that binds the interior of the receptor. Items on that complex are carbonic anhydrase, zinc, Vitamin D, and neprilysin.
So to answer your question, yes, breathing more of other people's air is definitely part of the equation. Getting one virus into one of your cells isn't enough for the vast majority of people to get infected. Only the immunocompromised will have issues with lower viral exposure. The threshold must be met. If the carbonic anhydrases don't have to work as hard, fewer viruses can enter the cells and they get taken out before they can replicate. Hence the can't grow in oxygen comment. We breathe them in but they don't survive our innate immune response.