Viral Respiratory Infections: From Bench to Bedside

Prof. Francesco Blasi, MD, FERS

Julio Ramirez, MD, FACP

At the present time, there is an increased interest in viral respiratory infections. Multiple factors have caused this interest:

• New technologies in microbiology laboratories, such as multiplex polymerase chain reaction, have facilitated the identification of multiple respiratory viruses in a single respiratory specimen.

• The recognition of respiratory viruses as the etiology of pneumonia in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia requiring intensive care unit care.

• The fact that viral pandemics such as influenza H1N1 and the current SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) are dominated by viruses that produce pneumonia and severe respiratory failure.

• The recognition of the role of viral respiratory tract infections in predisposing patients to more severe bacterial pneumonia.

In this issue of Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, we have invited recognized clinical investigators to review the most important topics in the area of viral respiratory infections.

Our goal is to update pulmonary physicians on the pathophysiology of viral respiratory infections, the diagnosis, clinical presentation, and outcomes of patients with severe viral respiratory infections, and the current therapeutic strategies for hospitalized patients with viral pneumonia.

The topic of viral pneumonia in children is reviewed by Dr. Professor Susanna Esposito, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Clinic, Pietro Barilla Children's Hospital, at the University of Parma, Parma, Italy. An overview of the new tools for the rapid diagnosis of viral respiratory infections is performed by Dr. Carlo Federico Perno, MD, PhD, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Milan, Italy. The host immune response in respiratory viral infections is reviewed by Dr. Jesús Bermejo-Martin from the Group for Biomedical Research in Respiratory Infection & Sepsis (BioSepsis) at the Hospital Universitario Río Hortega de Valladolid, Spain. The management of patients hospitalized with severe influenza is addressed by Dr. Ignacio Martin-Loeches, MD, PhD, the Vice Chair for the Department of Intensive Care Medicine at St James Hospital, in Dublin, Ireland. The important role of respiratory syncytial virus in respiratory infections is reviewed by Dr. Michael G. Ison, MD, Professor in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Organ Transplantation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois and Dr. Hannah Nam, MD, Assistant Professor at University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California.

The role of adenovirus in respiratory infections is addressed by Dr. Joseph P. Lynch, III, MD, the Holt and Jo Hickman Endowed Chair of Advanced Lung Disease and Lung Transplantation, Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine, Associate Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Los Angeles, CA and Dr. Adriana Kajon, PhD, Scientist, at the Infectious Disease Program Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The topic of hantavirus is reviewed by Dr. Raul Riquelme, Universidad San Sebastian, Hospital de Puerto Montt, Puerto Montt, Chile.

A review of Middle East respiratory syndrome is performed by Dr. Sir Alimuddin Zumla, MBChB, PhD, Professor of Infectious Diseases and International Health at the Department of Infection at National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, University College London Hospitals, London, United Kingdom. The topic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-1) is reviewed by Dr. Albert (Ab) Osterhaus, One Health Research Foundation, Emeritus Professor of Virology, Utrecht, The Netherlands and Director of the Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.

The important topic of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is reviewed by Dr. Stefano Aliberti from the Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. In the last chapter, a review of new antiviral treatments is performed by Dr. Andrea Gori, MD, Professor of Infectious Diseases at the School of Medicine and Surgery, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, and Head of Centre for Multidisciplinary Research in Health Science (MACH), University of Milan, and Director of Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Milan, Italy.

We want to thank all the authors for their excellent work as well as the members of the editorial staff of Seminars. We hope you enjoy this issue dedicated to respiratory viral infections.

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
16. Dezember 2021