Editorial: Genetic and molecular markers in human viral infections

past few decades, diseases caused by viruses still pose a major public health challenge worldwide (Holmes et al., 2024). Furthermore, the development of severe and debilitating chronic conditions, such as those caused by HIV-1, HTLV-1, HBV, HCV, and SARS-CoV-2 have not been fully understood. Many viruses have mutations that help them evade the host immune response, aiding their persistence (Beachboard and Horner, 2017). Immune response dysregulation can result in an ineffective antiviral attack or an excessive inflammatory response, leading to acute illnesses with high mortality or viral persistence, which is responsible for chronic diseases (Christiaansen et al., 2015).Genetic variations in both viral and host genomes can trigger alterations in the immune response and determine either favorable or unfavorable prognoses for viral infections. These genetic alterations as a result of high mutation rates may lead to immune evasion. Genetic alterations in key molecules of the host response can influence the intensity of the antiviral and inflammatory responses and, ultimately, impact viral susceptibility and symptomatic manifestation. The response to infections differs among individuals, resulting in infections of varying intensities, which may lead to asymptomatic, severe and fatal cases.