CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Viral infectious diseases have a great impact on humankind. Pandemic, epidemic, and endemic viraldiseases produce considerable morbidity and mortality, negatively affecting not only health andwell-being but also local and global economies by increasing school and work absenteeism as wellas the healthcare system expenses. Probably the best example of this global threat is the infectiousdisease caused by the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),which has infected millions of people globally during the 2019-2020 pandemic [WHO, coronaviruspandemic; (1)]. Viral infections not only affect the economy in terms of human life, they alsoinduce losses in livestock and crops (2), and can break down the barriers between animals andpeople, creating new potential dangers to human health (3). The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic pushedhealthcare systems around the world to the limit and put pressure on the scientific community toprovide solutions that help to prevent or alleviate its harmful effects. In consequence, in the past fewmonths, there has been a reevaluation of the work of scientists actively investigating the biologicalfeatures of viral infections, as well as potential preventive and therapeutic tools to combat them.As a discipline, Nutritional Immunology is working actively, contributing to the preventionof viral infections (4?7). One of the most important fields of Nutritional Immunology is thestudy of the relationship between nutrition, immunity, and infections. During recent decades,incredible advances have been made in understanding how nutrients (or the lack of them) influencethe microbiota and the immune system and affect resistance to viral infections. Scientists havegained insight into the cellular and molecular interactions of nutrients and microorganisms withthe immune system, and this information has allowed the development of practical applicationsand biotechnological tools for improving the immune system and ameliorating the negativeconsequences of viral infections in humans and animals. The manuscripts gathered in this ResearchTopic are examples of the mechanistic and applied investigations into the effects of nutritional andimmunological interventions on viral diseases.