Infection and Drug Resistance

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) can lead to symptoms akin to the common cold or winter flu, runny nose, cough, fever and so on. While the body can conquer the infection by itself, there are serious implications to being infected with RSV, as it is a common cause of pneumonia or bronchitis in infants aged under one year of age. Vulnerable patients, including the elderly and immunocompromised, may also be put at risk of further harm from an RSV infection.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a dip in RSV infections was noted in the United States, meaning the pandemic could have influenced the transmission of RSV during this period. This Thematic Series will consider how infection rates prior to the pandemic differ from to those from 2020 onwards. Questions we’ll be asking include the factors leading to these changes, how does COVID-19 infection affect RSV, or mortality rates. The body’s immunity response will also have a vital role in this Thematic Series, to provide further understanding on where the dangers of RSV lie.

Considering these topics, we hope the submissions will culminate into a fount of knowledge about RSV. This includes efforts to find successful treatments and preventions for RSV, such as antiviral drugs and vaccinations. What sort of treatment should drug developers be looking for? Do we need to take consideration of special populations? These facets of a complicated infection – such as RSV – will be accounted for in this crucial Thematic Series.

The journal is seeking original submissions and review articles on the following topics related to RSV:

• Infection rates before and since the COVID-19 pandemic
• Driving factors behind the infection changes
• Immunity cell responses to RSV and the role of antiviral inhibitors
• RSV interactions with cell receptors
• Infant mortality rates from RSV
• Pneumonia deaths originating from RSV infection
• Interaction between COVID-19 and RSV infections
• Different vaccination types currently in development (e.g., Live attenuated, mRNA, polyvalent etc.)

The deadline for submissions is 31 July 2023.

Please submit your manuscript on our website, quoting the promo code SQVAI to indicate that your submission is for consideration in this Article Collection.

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Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Current aspects of fungal infections", organized by Guest Advisor Dr. Héctor Manuel Mora-Montes in Infection and Drug Resistance.

Fungi, like other living organisms, interact with the environment, other members of the same species, or organisms belonging to different taxonomic groups. Sometimes, these interactions lead fungal species to establish infections in human beings, because of changes in the host environment, like opportunistic pathogens, or simply because there is no other way to interact with the host than causing damage, like primary pathogens. From the millions of species that are estimated that belong to the kingdom fungi, only a handful of them are etiological agents of mycosis in humans, and these can be well-known etiological agents, emerging fungal pathogens, or species that previously were not considered of relevance in medical mycology.

The colonization and invasion of the host’s tissues and organs are the results of fungal adaptation to this new environment and the expression of virulence factors and determinants, along with strategies to evade the host’s immunity. The increment of temporal or permanent immunodeficiency has positively impacted the frequency of mycosis and the emergence of atypical cases is more often reported. Once the infection is diagnosed, there are therapeutic options to treat mycosis, which are mainly based on antifungal drugs. Despite these being excellent alternatives to treat infections, the repertoire is not as abundant as the one we have to treat bacterial infections, and antifungal drug resistance is a common reason for treatment failure. Most of our knowledge of basic aspects of medical mycology comes from the study of Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus, and the caused infections, but nowadays we know that the mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction, immune sensing, evasion, and response to antifungal drugs are species-specific traits; thus, the study of this and other medically relevant fungal species and the caused mycoses is currently an opportunity area.

Thus, the aim of this Article Collection is to gather papers about the latest basic or clinical aspects of medically relevant fungal species. Original research manuscripts are particularly welcome, but review papers and case reports can also be part of this collection. Subjects of the collection may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Neglected fungal pathogens
2. Immunity against fungal infections
3. Virulence factors
4. Epidemiology of mycosis
5. Diagnosis and treatment
6. The search for new antifungal compounds

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Please review the journal Aims and Scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submissions is 10th November 2023.

Please submit your manuscript on our website, quoting the promo code XWWVT to indicate that your submission is for consideration in this Article Collection.

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Dove Medical Press is pleased to invite you to submit your research to an upcoming Article Collection on "Advances in Osteomyelitis: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment", organized by Guest Advisor Dr. Nan Jiang in Infection and Drug Resistance.

Osteomyelitis (OM) refers to osseous tissue infection, with or without surrounding soft tissue infection. It is characterized by inflammatory associated bone destruction, with or without new bone formation. Despite great advances in medical techniques, osteomyelitis remains a catastrophic disorder or complication. On the one hand, the pathogenesis of this disorder is still not fully understood. On the other hand, diagnosis of this disorder is sometimes difficult owing to the non-specific symptoms. In addition, treatment is always tricky, with high risks of infection recurrence and limb disability. Therefore, how to lower the incidence of osteomyelitis is as important as the topic of how to increase the cure rate.

Currently, successful management of OM still poses substantial challenges for orthopedic surgeons, which is primarily attributed to its characteristics of high heterogeneity. Despite having the same disorder, clinical efficacy varies among patients and is influenced by multiple factors. At present, the overall efficacy of osteomyelitis treatment remains unsatisfactory, placing great pressure on the patients, not only physically, but also psychologically and economically. Even in patients with long-term skin ulcers and sinus drainage, malignant transformation of squamous cell carcinoma is not rare. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of OM's pathogenesis, together with early and accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment, is of great importance, and may help achieve better clinical efficacy and improve life quality of the patients.

The aim of this Article Collection is to solicit original research articles covering the current concepts and investigations regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of osteomyelitis. Review articles discussing state-of-the-art are also welcome. Subjects of the collection may include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Fundamental research focusing on the pathogenesis of osteomyelitis.
• Novel approaches or tools for early and accurate diagnosis of osteomyelitis.
• Current situations of the microbiology and drug resistance of osteomyelitis.
• Progress in the personalized and optimized treatment of osteomyelitis.
• Preventive measures aiming at reducing the incidence of osteomyelitis.

Keywords

osteomyelitis, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, prevention

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Please review the journal Aims and Scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submissions is 31st December 2023.

Please submit your manuscript on our website, quoting the promo code ONIEQ to indicate that your submission is for consideration in this Article Collection.

Guest advisor

Nan Jiang, Southern Medical University

[email protected]

View all papers in this article collection