​The aim of the study is to investigate the interaction between three predominant viral causes of lower respiratory tract infections; influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and respiratory syncytialvirus (RS-virus) and the human immune system. ​

Lower respiratory tract infections resulting from seasonal epidemics and pandemics are among the leading causes of death globally. There is a paucity of treatment options for viral respiratory pathogens and patient care remains largely supportive. This underscores a need for identifying novel targets for prophylactic/treatment interventions and early prediction models of disease outcome to personalize treatment.

In diverse clinical cohorts comprising patients with varying disease severities, we will genotype both virus and host, map deep immunological phenotypes spanning cellular, humoral, and innate immunity, and characterize host responses in human nasal epithelial organoid models following viral infection. Novel bioinformatics approaches that include knowledge discovery and machine learning will be used to integrate and analyze multidisciplinary datasets to assess the individual and combined impact of factors on disease phenotype.

This will provide direct and immediate access to our findings for further development of personalized treatment, therapeutic targets and vaccines in future trials and clinical practice to improve the wellbeing of the EU population and beyond.

Read more about REACT here: https://react-euproject.eu/​