COPD Exacerbations and Respiratory Viral Infections: A Perspective

Respiratory viruses are a major cause of concern for human population worldwide. Respiratory viral infections make it worse for patients suffering with lung diseases, such as, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Viral infections are one of the major inducers of COPD exacerbation. COPD exacerbations are associated with increased inflammation of the lung airways. Infection of upper respiratory tract contributes to disease progression leading to more severe exacerbation, longer duration for recovery from the disease symptoms and increased rate of hospitalization. As COPD is suspected to be one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, this review discusses the role of respiratory viral infections in exacerbations of COPD and its immunology and genetics. Our current review presents information from articles electronically searched for keywords, such as, COPD, exacerbations, viral infections. Inclusion of articles was restricted to role of viral infections in COPD exacerbations to fulfill the relevance of the present article.