Selenium, a micronutrient is reported to play a very important role in fighting bacterial and viral infections. Selenium exerts its effects through incorporation into selenoproteins that are crucial for providing antioxidant defense and maintaining redox homeostasis. The deficiency of selenium in the diet leads to impaired immune response and increased pathogenesis of viral diseases. On the other hand, supplementation with selenium has been shown to be very effective in reducing infections and mortality against many pathogenic RNA viruses. This has encouraged researchers across the world to examine the role of selenium (if any) in the susceptibility and/or severity of the recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Some of the emerging findings along with the future scope of research on using selenium for management of viral infections including COVID-19 are discussed.

中文翻译：

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硒，一种微量营养素可以调节病毒性疾病，包括COVID-19

硒是一种微量营养素，据报道在抵抗细菌和病毒感染中起着非常重要的作用。硒通过掺入硒蛋白发挥其作用，硒蛋白对于提供抗氧化防御和维持氧化还原稳态至关重要。饮食中硒的缺乏会导致免疫反应受损和病毒性疾病的发病机理增加。另一方面，补充硒对减少许多致病性RNA病毒的感染和降低死亡率非常有效。这鼓励世界各地的研究人员研究硒（如果有的话）在最近爆发的冠状病毒疾病（COVID-19）的易感性和/或严重性中的作用。