New Insights in Viral Diseases and Computational Biology

Dear Colleagues,

Humanity and animality are facing threats from various viruses, including RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the influenza virus, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the Ebola virus. SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, and respiratory syncytial virus all cause acute respiratory viral infections. As of August 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported over 769 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and approximately 6.95 million confirmed deaths. The overlap of SARS-CoV-2 with seasonal epidemics of RSV and influenza viruses has also resulted in significant morbidity and mortality among young children worldwide [1]. Although Ebola virus outbreaks have been mainly restricted to Africa, they have resulted in much higher fatality rates, with an average of around 50%.

Bioinformatics approaches, employing vast new technologies, have been widely used to address research questions regarding virus evolution and host responses. Second- and third-generation sequencing have provided large amounts of resource data for bioinformatics analysis, aiding in the understanding of the biology of both the virus and its infected host.

In the form of a Special Issue, our aim is to provide a collection of the most recent top research articles, comprehensive reviews, as well as short communications in line with computational virus biology. Through this Special Issue, we aim to pinpoint our efforts towards understanding the infection biology of viruses using various bioinformatics approaches.

I am looking forward to your valuable involvement in this interesting Special Issue.

Reference:

1. Steponavičienė, A.; Burokienė, S.; Ivaškevičienė, I.; Stacevičienė, I.; Vaičiūnienė, D.; Jankauskienė, A. Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections in Pediatric Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single-Center Experience. Children 2023, 10, 126.

Dr. Xiaofeng Dong
Guest Editor

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• bioinformatics method/pipeline in virology
• virus genome evolution
• host transcriptome
• virus and host interaction
• bioinformatics in the design of antiviral drug and vaccines
• machine learning in virology