Dr.Alaa Abdul-Hussain Al-Sareeh from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Basrah, received a certificate of participation in the international symposium on (the function of probiotics in modulating immunity against infection with Covid-19), which was organized by the Asia Pacific Institute for Food Professionals (APIFP) in cooperation with the Food Engineering and Biological Materials Research Group. (FoBERG), Malaysia. The symposium dealt with giving lectures on respiratory viral infection, which is one of the fastest rising global diseases burdens with high mortality rates. The severity of the disease ranges from a mild infection of the upper airway to acute chronic inflammation of the mucous layer of the respiratory tract and multiple failure in some patients. At this stage, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is causing significant deaths in many countries, and due to the lack of an accurate drug regimen for the world population, improving and enhancing the host human immunity is one of the best preventive methods to reduce the severity of such viral diseases. The World and Food and Agriculture Organization as living microorganisms reflect a health benefit on hosts if given in an appropriate amount with many benefits such as balancing the composition of human intestinal bacteria, strengthening intestinal barrier function, and protective immune responses. Therefore, the symposium recommended that multiple clinical trials should be conducted on a large number of COVID-19 patients, which could provide empirical data regarding the role of probiotics in alleviating disease and improving patients' health alongside current treatments.
