Abstract
Biomedical research has long strived to improve our understanding of the immune response
to respiratory viral infections, an effort that has become all the more important
as we live through the consequences of a pandemic. The disease course of these infections
is shaped in large part by the actions of various cells of the innate and adaptive
immune systems. While these cells are crucial in clearing viral pathogens and establishing
long-term immunity, their effector mechanisms may also escalate into excessive, tissue-destructive
inflammation detrimental to the host. In this review, we describe the breadth of the
immune response to infection with respiratory viruses such as influenza and respiratory
syncytial virus. Throughout, we focus on the host rather than the pathogen and try
to describe shared patterns in the host response to different viruses. We start with
the local cells of the airways, onto the recruitment and activation of innate and
adaptive immune cells, followed by the establishment of local and systemic memory
cells key in protection against reinfection. We end by exploring how respiratory viral
infections can predispose to bacterial superinfection.
Keywords
immune response - respiratory viruses - viral infection
