Updating an Electrostatics-Based Perspective in View of the Enhanced Infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 Variants

Abstract

The static electric field continuously surrounding a human body because it is subject to tribocharge buildup can play a key role in the control of the external viral entry mechanism. This phenomenon could be promoted by the electrostatically induced migration of charge-loaded harmful airborne. On the other side, the same field might be beneficial as a natural means of reducing the spike/host cell affinity, hence, of preventing the adverse effects of infection after the viral entry. The paper draws attention to the above complex phenomenology, the implications of which can be ambivalent, as a further contribution to updating a previous investigation.