Why COVID-19 is like FIRE - This is actually GOOD NEWS

The Sars2 Coronavirus behaves a lot like fire.

It starts out very small, but in the right conditions, it can grow exponentially, very quickly.  It can spread in all directions, and if it can't be extinguished soon enough, it will take down whatever is in it's path. 

Fire involves a massive amount of oxidation and oxidative stress. I only know this because I studied it as part of my job.

What is Fire? Combustion Reaction Tutorial | kinetic & potential energy, heat & light | Chemistry

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8891667/

 

. 1996;21(5):641-9.

 doi: 10.1016/0891-5849(96)00131-1.

Oxidative stress during viral infection: a review

K B Schwarz 1

Affiliations 

• PMID: 8891667
 
• DOI: 10.1016/0891-5849(96)00131-1

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to analyze the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the pathogenesis of viral infections, an area of research that has recently gained momentum given the accumulation of evidence regarding the role of ROS in the pathogenesis of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Attention will be focussed on three classes of viruses: (1) RNA viruses, (2) DNA viruses, and (3) retroviruses, with particular attention to influenza viruses, hepatitis B virus, and HIV as representative examples of these three classes, respectively. For each type of virus, evidence for the following will be analyzed: (1) the effect of the virus on activation of phagocytic cells to release ROS and pro-oxidant cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor; (2) the effect of the virus on the pro-/antioxidant balance in host cells, including virally induced inhibition of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and virally induced increases in pro-oxidants such as nitric oxide; (3) effects of the redox state of the cell on the genetic composition of the virus as well as ROS-mediated release of host cell nuclear transcription factor-kappa-B, resulting in increased viral replication; and (4) efficacy of antioxidants as therapeutic agents in viral diseases of both animal models and patients.

JUST LIKE A SPARK that could burn down a building  - So Why Aren't we Focused on how we can all extinguish the "fire" in our bodies, as soon as it starts???

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165237099000832

Fundamental reactions of free radicals relevant to pyrolysis reactions

Author links open overlay panelMarvin L.Poutsma

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-2370(99)00083-2Get rights and content

Abstract

Free-radical mechanisms are ubiquitous for pyrolysis of organic substrates. Background information is supplied to assist in the interpretation of such reactions by dissection into the elementary radical-forming, radical-consuming, and radical-interconverting reactions that form the building blocks of overall mechanisms. Particular attention is given to homolysis, hydrogen abstraction, β-scission–addition, and rearrangement steps, and to bond-breaking and bond-forming processes. Since the thermochemistry of such elementary reactions is dependent on the stability of the radicals involved, the major influences of structural changes on radical stability are reviewed. Kinetics of prototypical elementary reactions and their responses to structural changes are rationalized in terms of their Arrhenius parameters. The fundamental relationships between thermochemical parameters and kinetic parameters are summarized, and the use of these to estimate rate constants for cases where data is not available is demonstrated. Some kinetic consequences of the combination of elementary reactions to produce chain reactions are reviewed. Critical structural and kinetic features that determine the selectivity among product types and the response of reactions to temperature and substrate concentration are indicated.

What is Fire Pyrolysis