Pediatric Respiratory-Associated Infections and Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Prevention and Personalized Care

Dear Colleagues,

Respiratory infections remain among the leading causes of morbidity and hospitalization in children worldwide. Despite substantial progress in vaccination strategies, antimicrobial therapies, and intensive care management, respiratory pathogens continue to pose significant challenges, particularly among neonates, infants, immunocompromised children, and patients with chronic diseases.

The landscape of pediatric respiratory medicine has rapidly evolved in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens and highlighted the importance of surveillance, rapid diagnosis, and infection prevention. At the same time, the introduction of novel preventive strategies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), increasing evidence of the impact of climate change and environmental exposures during early life, and advances in precision medicine are transforming the prevention and management of respiratory diseases in children.

A major breakthrough has also been the widespread implementation of rapid molecular diagnostic technologies, including multiplex PCR and point-of-care molecular assays, which have substantially improved the timely identification of respiratory pathogens, refined our understanding of viral and bacterial co-infections, and reshaped the epidemiology of pediatric respiratory infections. Furthermore, growing evidence on the respiratory microbiome is providing novel insights into host–microbe interactions, disease susceptibility, progression, treatment response, and the development of chronic respiratory disorders.

In parallel, advances in molecular biology, microbiome research, immunology, artificial intelligence, and biomarker discovery are paving the way toward more personalized approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up of pediatric respiratory diseases.

This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical studies addressing respiratory infections and related diseases across the pediatric age spectrum.

Dr. Monia Gennari
Guest Editor

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