ABSTRACT
Survivors of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) infections have a unique immune response that allows them to either delay reinfection or outsmarts the virus’s whims. The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and immunization have furthered this immune response by producing high-affinity anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. There is limited data on the extent to which this immune response confers protective immunity against recurrent infections, as well as the duration of this protection. Here we present the first-ever quantum mechanical model to provide an answer to this question. The model is well applicable because of the 20 nm -500 nm size range of coronavirus. We call this model the ‘Quantum Perturbation Model’. The model relates the strength of the COVID-19 attack to a wave function containing information about the system (person infected by the SARS-CoV-2) and quantized energy states, which shows the chances of reoccurrence of the disease. By applying the energy corrections provided by the Quantum Perturbation Theory to the SARS-CoV-2 attack under reinfections and various pre-existing conditions we have provided possible interpretations. When pre-existing problems exist at the time of SARS-COV-2 infection, the model illustrates how the influence of COVID-19 accumulates up. The model also formulates the deficit in the intensity of the COVID-19 effect in recurrence or in the presence of other variables strengthening the body’s antibody affinity and immunity to resist the virus variants.
KEYWORDS: SARS-COV-2, immunity system response, quantum mechanical modeling, quantum perturbation theory,
INTRODUCTION
The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, around the globe has caused ripples and spurred researchers to take alternative strategies to deal with the new SARS-CoV-2 infection (Baric et al., 2020). With 169 million cases and 3.51 million deaths worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have declared COVID-19 one of the deadliest pandemics in the modern human history (Baric 2020; Lv et al., 2020). SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19 when it enters the body through the nose, mouth, or eyes and finds its way to our cells through its surface spike protein (Pillalamarri et al. 2021). Its entry into host cells is a key factor in viral pathogenicity, infectivity, and immunity (Li et al., 2016). Once inside the cells, SARS-CoV-2 replicates itself utilizing host cellular machinery, producing virally encoded proteins that copy its viral genetic material and induce infection (Khan et al., 2020). When a cell is infected with viruses, it ruptures (Chatterjee et al., 2021). This causes the cell to die, and the virus particles can go on to infect more cells (Lv et al., 2020; Singhal et al., 2020; Shereen et al. 2020). The virus evades our immune system by changing over time, resulting in genetic mutations in the population of circulating viral strains that dampen our immune response ( Li et al., 2021). Coughing or sneezing of a COVID-19 affected person is a leading cause of the spread of this virus and the disease. The infected person can spray droplets as far as 6 feet away during a cough or sneeze (Lv et al., 2020; Shereen et al. 2020). . The latest data on the COVID-19 indicates that only 17% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 show no symptoms and these individuals are 42% less likely to transmit the virus (Byambasuren et al., 2020).
Despite the fact that SARS-CoV-2 has the ability to hijack our immune system, we must remember that our body’s natural defenses are intended to develop efficient antibodies against a specific invader (Ullah et al., 2021; Vardhana et al., 2020; Yazdanpanah et al., 2020). Our immune system remembers how it dealt with pathogens previously (Yazdanpanah et al., 2020). When an individual is re-infected with the same pathogen, our immune system recognizes it and protects us (Gasteiger et al., 2017). In the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, recovery does provide a degree of immunity, but there have been cases where the second infection was fatal (Bi et al., 2020; Parry et al., 2020). To date, there is no information available that anyone has been infected a third time, though the possibility may exist as circulation of variants such as B.1.1.7 or B.1.1.28 has been reported in several countries (Voloch et al., 2021; Sabino et al., 2021). In the event, if a third re-infection occurs and the patient recovers, it will aid in the building of long-term immunity, eventually leading to eternal immunity, based on our existing immunology understanding.
In multiple case study reports, researchers have discovered that pre-existing chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, or digestive diseases are reinforcing factors for SARS-CoV-2 and that a more severe viral attack is expected in such patients. In simple words, a person with a pre-existing condition like heart disease can be affected more by the COVID-19 (Sanyaolu et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2020; Mao et al., 2020). Based on the reported data of 76993 patients, Emami et al. reported that cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), malignancy, and chronic kidney disease were among the most prevalent underlying diseases among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, respectively (Emami et al., 2020).
The SARS-CoV-2 infection can damage the heart in many ways. For example, the virus may directly attack and inflame the heart muscle, affecting blood flow and the supply of oxygen to the body part. COVID-19 seems to promote the development of cardiovascular disorders, such as myocardial injury, arrhythmias, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and venous thromboembolism (Shi et al., 2020; Dai et al., 2020; Shi et al., 2020). Children with COVID-19 have also been reported to develop hyperinflammatory shock with features akin to Kawasaki disease, including cardiac dysfunction and coronary vessel abnormalities (Dai et al., 2020). Similarly, cancer patients are also at the forefront of risk from COVID-19 and have a disproportionately high death rate (Williamson et al., 2020; Sud et al., 2020; Tillett et al., 2021; Azam et al., 2020). Clearly, some of these factors relate to immune suppression and chemotherapy and hence we can say that COVID-19 could have a more severe effect on those who have pre-existing serious disorders.
Through case studies of several COVID-19 patients, researchers discovered that re-infection and recurrence of COVID-19 is possible in patients who survived the first COVID-19 attack. According to a recent study, those who had COVID 19 had an 84 % lower chance of reinfection and a 93 % reduced risk of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (Hall et al., 2021). Clinicians and researchers presented a case study on a range of patients and investigated SARS-COV-2 infection as well as the impact of COVID-19 on patients with various conditions. They reported eleven COVID-19 patients having experienced a second clinically- and virologically confirmed acute COVID-19 episode (Bonifacio et al., 2020; Gousseff et al., 2020). Several cases of recurrence have also been reported in other parts of the world (Jiang et al., 2020).
The purpose of this study is to develop a proper model based on the Quantum Perturbation Theory that provides information and a pathway to recurrence of COVID-19 under various conditions affecting the immunity and affinity of the body.
BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
Keeping the severity of the COVID-19 attack in the presence of a pre-existing major disease and recurrence of the attack, it is important to model the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its progress. Researchers have reported various aspects of COVID-19 attack, the severity of the developed infection, and the outcomes. However, a search is still going on to find a proper model explaining how the strength of COVID-19 infection is affected by pre-existing diseases and how the strength and chances of recurrence vary under various conditions and factors.
In this paper, we developed the first Quantum Mechanical Model based on Quantum Perturbation Theory. We call it the “Quantum Perturbation Model” to model COVID-19 infections and the immune response of the affected body. The model describes how the effect of COVID-19 adds up when pre-existing major diseases exist at the time of coronavirus attack. The model also formulizes the weakness in the strength of the COVID-19 effect in recurrence or in the presence of other factors boosting the affinity and immunity of the body to resist. This quantum perturbation model is uniquely significant because the model is well suited to formulize COVID-19 because of the 20 nm -500 nm size range of coronavirus, which is exactly matching with the quantum mechanical limits of explaining the phenomenon and outcomes that cannot be explained and solved by the traditional approaches. Many phenomena and effects like single-electron tunneling in a biological system, alpha decay, electrons tunneling in physical and biological systems, and behavior of neurons have been successfully modeled and explained when all other approaches have failed. We hypothesize that a microscopic cellular event must be viewed as a quantum entity (system) in the context that it is complex and confined in space and time. These cellular events rely on a limited (unlimited) number of molecules that are densely packed and can occur within a relatively short period, leaving them accessible to the possibility that quantum mechanical processes can play an important role in biological systems.
Another unique and significant outcome of this model is that any COVID-19 patient who shows a different path of variation in the Covid-19 effect (other than predicted and prescribed by this model) has either been suffering from another underlying disease which is not been diagnosed yet or has another affinity factor which is yet to be detected.
FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISM OF PERPETUAL IMMUNITY TO SARS-COV-2 INFECTION
Our immune system is very versatile, capable of fighting a wide range of infections and possessing a memory that allows for a robust response to previously encountered pathogens. When an antigen attacks our body, the immune system responds to it through cell-mediated immunity and antibody production. Because SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus for humans, initially it causes an innate immune response that activates an elaborate signaling cascade using proteins called cytokines (Boechat et al., 2021; Vetter et al., 2020). Within a week or two of the cytokines’ storm, the adaptive system becomes active that creates natural antibodies (IgM, IgD, and IgA). These antibodies interact with the virus and eventually kill or disable it (Sette et al., 2021). The innate immune response plays a vital role in B cell development, proliferation, and isotype switching (Viau et al., 2005). When B. lymphocytes bind to SARS-CoV-2, they divide and mature into identical cells. Millions of high-affinity SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies are released into the bloodstream and lymphatic system by these mature memory B cells. As these SARS-CoV-2 driven antibodies circulate, they bind to SARS-CoV-2 virus particles and neutralize them by changing their chemical composition, preventing them from entering other cells. Concurrent interaction with new virus strains or booster vaccinations increases the affinity of these antibodies even further. We believe that this process of SARS-CoV-2-driven B cell activation is repeated several times in order to sustain the efficiency of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which could lead to what is known as ”perpetual immunity.” Various pre-existing diseases have been linked to an increased chance of dying from COVID 19, albeit not all comorbidities carry the same risk (Callender et al., 2020) . This mechanism of perpetual immunity development is shown in Figure 1.