Post Infectious Inflammation and Long-Term Health–Across All the Infections - Daniel M. Altmann, PhD

Presenter: Daniel M. Altmann, PhD - Imperial College London
Lecture: Post Infectious Inflammation and Long-Term Health – Across All the Infections
Presented in Session 1: Acute Inflammation - Part 1

Viral Infections & Inflammation Workshop 2022

Meeting Description
The Viral Infections & Inflammation Workshop 2022, took place as a hybrid meeting from 8-9 September 2022 in Washington DC, United States. It brought together basic, translational, and clinical researchers to disseminate the latest knowledge in this area fuel discussion on the many remaining unknowns in order to catalyze future research.

Inflammatory response and cytokine storm in severely ill COVID-19 patients have put a spotlight on the importance of inflammation in viral infections. Prevalence of long-term COVID is also a concern and potentially related to the suboptimal function of the immune system. Yet, these concerns are not unique to COVID-19. In the case of HIV, despite remarkable improvements in antiretroviral therapy, immune reconstitution remains limited in some patients even a long time after treatment initiation. Exhaustion of primary immune resources due to persistent activation and inflammation drives premature immune aging and impacts life expectancy.

Although HIV and SARS-CoV-2 are fundamentally different infections with distinct long-term consequences, underlying mechanisms that drive those complications might be common. Which plausible mechanisms are at play? Persistent inflammation, mucosal damage, autoimmunity, and immune dysfunction are putative pieces of the puzzle that is yet to be resolved. Are you interested in hearing the progress in elucidating this remaining unmet need, what have we learned so far, what are the gaps, and what can we do to address those in the future?