Impact of Co-infections in COVID-19: Predisposing Mechanisms and Interplay between Invasive Viral, Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens

Dear Colleagues,

COVID-19 patients with severe disease are highly prone to secondary superinfections with a wide range of viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens. Since the beginning of the pandemic, several clinical reports, as well as experimental animal models, have demonstrated how different microbial pathogens impact disease outcome in COVID-19. However, much remains to be explored regarding how other microbial pathogens interact with SARS-COV-2 and among themselves in the same infectious lung microenvironment. Further, the effect of co-infections or secondary superinfections on host immunity, tissue damage and recovery need to be understood.

This Special Issue will focus on the mechanisms by which various microbial pathogens contribute to COVID-19’s pathophysiology. We aim to discuss the signaling events involved in pathogen–pathogen and pathogen–host interactions and their influence on disease outcome in COVID-19.  We welcome clinical reports, epidemiology studies and work on animal models of co-infections, identification of novel signaling pathways in host defense and COVID-19-infected individuals’ susceptibility for further infections. Research conducted at the cellular level to explore the entry or co-existence of more than one pathogen, especially via respiratory epithelial cells, will be accepted. Further studies focused on understanding the mechanisms by which SARS-COV-2 infection predisposes individuals to secondary viral, bacterial or fungal infections and therapeutic interventions will also be discussed in this Special Issue.

Dr. Sunil More
Dr. Telugu Akula Narasaraju
Dr. Yee-Joo Tan
Guest Editors

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