The Threat from Emerging Virus Infections: Today and Tomorrow

Coşkun, Zerrin Özergin; Cingi, Cemal; Karpischenko, Sergei

The title may have changed, but the situation is fundamentally the same as it was in 1960, as shown by the quotation above. Emerging viral infections continue to infect humans, some threaten human life today, but what about in the future? By its very nature as the passage by which air can enter the body, the upper respiratory tract is exposed to all manner of pathogens as well as polluting agents. Acute upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) refers to a transmissible infection of the upper respiratory tract, consisting of the nose, nasopharynx, pharynx, hypopharynx and larynx, and is a universal experience, despite decades of research. The range of pathogens covers many viruses and bacteria. The common cold, caused by multiple different viruses, is the most familiar acute infective disorder affecting the upper airway, although other infections can also produce sinusitis, pharyngitis, epiglottitis and tracheobronchitis.