Preface: Immune Response to Viral infections

Viruses are omnipresent, outside in the environment and inside our bodies, some of which can cause infection leading to disease. The course and outcome of virus infection depend on the immune response mounted by the host, which is generally comprised of local broad spectrum innate immune response and subsequent pathogen-specific humoral and cellular immune response. A timely, balanced immune response can stop the viral infection in its tracks and prevent the onset of the disease. However, an imbalanced and suboptimal immune response, caused by viral factors or the host itself, can lead to disease, sometimes severe. Hence understanding the interactions between viral factors and components of host immunity is critical for developing modalities to prevent and treat viral infections. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a shrill reminder of the value of this knowledge for the development of vaccines and therapeutics. With this intent, we have collected focused well-crafted review articles on this subject in the special issue titled 'Immune response to Viral infections'.