EDITORIAL article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1715204
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Immunological Effects of Respiratory Viruses during Pregnancy and BreastfeedingView all 7 articles
Editorial: The Immunological Effects of Respiratory Viruses during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Provisionally accepted
- 1RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
- 2Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Parkville, Australia
- 3Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- 4IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Canada
- 5Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Canada
- 6Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
- 7Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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Pregnancy and the early postnatal period are marked by unique immunological adaptations that heighten susceptibility to infection, particularly from respiratory viruses. Dysregulation of maternal and fetal immunity during early gestation or soon after birth can have long-term health consequences. In summary, this research topic offers insights on how respiratory viral infections intersect between maternal and neonatal immunity, through various common themes. First, maternal-infant immunity is extremely dynamic and multifaceted, involving not just antibody transfer but also specific mediator signaling and adaptive breastmilk responses. Second, while maternal vaccination remains a critical strategy, variant-driven immune escape, that is very relevant to SARS-CoV-2, presents continued hurdles. Third, mechanistic findings at the cellular and molecular levels are consistent with population-level data on obstetric hazards, highlighting the field's translational value.Finally, the neurodevelopmental dimension emphasizes that the effects of maternal virus infection may persist well beyond the perinatal period. Other relevant research topics that might be of interest
Keywords: Pregnancy, respiratory viruses, Early life development, cardiorespiratory system, breastfeeding
Received: 29 Sep 2025; Accepted: 10 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liong, Choy, Selemidis, Abu-Raya and De Rose. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Stella Liong, stella.liong@rmit.edu.au
Christopher Choy, chris.choy@monash.edu
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