Respiratory infectious diseases are important diseases causing major public safety events, posing a great threat to life, health, and social development. Effective control and scientific treatment of the diseases is the key basis for ensuring the stability and long-term development of the community of a shared future for human health. Although the pathogens of respiratory viral infectious diseases are diverse and the process is complex, the common pathological basis of their pathogenesis is characterized by the "damage-repair" functional imbalance of the immune microenvironment of the lesions, which leads to the subsequent structural and functional destruction of important organs. Therefore, the treatment should focus on antivirus and immunological regulation, strengthen the protection against immune injury, and promote the functional repair of damaged tissues. The above conclusions are the scientific core of host-directed therapies(HDT), which coincides with "human-disease co-treatment and healthy qi and pathogen interaction" in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) theories. Under the support of TCM and western medicine theories, the complete pathological chain "infection-immunity-injury" of respiratory viral infectious diseases is integrated with dynamic change in "healthy qi-pathogen" in TCM to transform the treatment focus from the diseases to the patients. It is possible to fundamentally correct the "damage-repair" imbalance in the disease state, change the environment for disease development, and bring benefits to patients by strengthening human intervention, maintaining immune homeostasis, enhancing the protection of tissues and organs, and promoting the repair and regeneration of damaged tissues. This study focused on the common and key pathological processes of respiratory infectious diseases, especially the immune damage caused by the viral infection, to seek effective prevention and treatment strategies, review relevant theoretical progress, summarize effective drug candidates, prospect future research and development, and highlight the therapeutic characteristics of TCM.
Keywords: "damage-repair" balance; host-directed therapies; respiratory infectious diseases; traditional Chinese medicine treatment.