Novel Antivirals against Respiratory Viruses

Dear Colleagues,

Respiratory tract infections are very common in the population and represent a significant cause of high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Viral infections of the upper respiratory tract are mainly caused by rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, influenza viruses, parainfluenza viruses and adenoviruses. Acute viral lower respiratory tract infections, such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus infections, represent a significant health problem for both the pediatric and adult populations. In particular, influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, the cause of epidemics and pandemics, have a very serious impact on human life. Although vaccines and antiviral drugs are available for these viruses, vaccines are not always fully effective against circulating viral strains, and drug resistance poses a significant challenge for treating infections.

Much attention has been paid to research and development of antivirals to fight respiratory infections but the problems of drug resistance and undesirable side effects highlight the need to search for novel and more effective drugs.

In this special issue, we welcome the submission by researchers in the antiviral drug field of original research papers, communications and review articles on one of the following topics:

1. Identification of cellular and/or viral targets to fight respiratory infections;
2. Use of natural substances or synthetic molecules to inhibit respiratory virus infections;
3. Combination of different drugs to fight viral infections of the respiratory tract;
4. Drug repurposing approaches for the treatment of respiratory viral infections;
5. Innovative therapies against viral infections of the respiratory tract that combine classic antivirals with host-targeting compounds;
6. Search for new antivirals that target different steps of viral life cycle.

Dr. Fabiana Superti
Dr. Magda Marchetti
Dr. Lucia Nencioni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.