READDI hopes to identify and test potential medications for as-yet-unknown infections that may crop up in the future. This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine , an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews.
Sign up for the newsletter. Science writer Amber Dance lives in the Los Angeles area. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science. How do antivirals work?
Why are there so few antivirals? How are antivirals being used against Covid? Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. New antiviral drugs are also in short supply.
These medicines have been much more difficult to develop than antibacterial drugs because antivirals can damage host cells where the viruses reside. Today, there are more antiviral drugs for HIV than for any other viral disease, transforming an infection that was once considered a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition. But novel drugs are needed to combat other epidemic viral infections such as influenza and hepatitis B. Several programs have been developed to stimulate research and development of new vaccines and medicines.
In , the U. Department of Health and Human Services formed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which provides an integrated, systematic approach to the development and purchase of the vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools necessary for public health medical emergencies. This group has supported the development of several treatments and vaccines. The Cures Acceleration Network CAN provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Obama in March , is designed to move research discoveries through to safe and effective therapies by awarding grants through the National Institutes of Health NIH to biotech companies, universities, and patient advocacy groups.
And nonprofit organizations dedicated to accelerating the discovery and clinical development of new therapies to treat infectious diseases are bringing together philanthropists, medical research foundations, industry leaders, and other key stakeholders to forge effective collaborations. Antiviral agents tend to be directed at a single virus strain or in some cases even individual serotypes of a viral strain.
Bacteria, however, relative to viruses are hugely more complex, and fall into distinct families that share common characteristics. For example, a class of antibiotics called Tetracyclines inhibit bacterial protein synthesis by binding to the subunit of the bacterial ribosome, these antibiotics can therefore be used to target a number of bacteria, and bacterial infections.
Antivirals, by contrast tend to be much more specific, and therefore limited in there spectrum of use. This is due to the fact that viruses are a lot simpler — both structurally i.
As part of their life cycle involves utilising cell host machinery to replicate and infect, it is intrinsically more difficult to target a viral life-cycle process. There are over viruses that cause the common cold, each one with slightly different characteristics.
As colds are usually self limiting and fairly short-lived, the time it would take to sample, test and characterise a virus causing a cold, the symptoms themselves would already have subsided! Also, there have not been different antiviral drugs developed for every known cold causing virus. The same is true for viruses that cause gastroenteritis. The mechanism underlying rash development is unknown. This review has highlighted the pharmacokinetics, mechanisms of action, clinical indications, and adverse effects of clinically available drugs for the management of viruses other than HIV.
The antiviral therapeutic armamentarium has evolved over the years and is rapidly expanding. This serves as a catalyst for the development of novel therapies and, more importantly, should urge the medical community to use these drugs optimally in the clinical setting.
Indeed, increased resistance has been observed to the neuraminidase inhibitors for the treatment of influenza viruses and the nucleos t ide analogues for the treatment of CHB. As novel therapies develop eg, the serine protease inhibitors for the treatment of CHC , care must be taken to optimize their use so that the clinical life span of these drugs is not abbreviated by the development of resistance.
The author has no conflicts of interest to declare. On completion of this article, you should be able to 1 discuss the different regimens for the prevention and treatment of human herpesviruses; 2 discuss options for the prevention and treatment of influenza virus, including infections with resistant strains; and 3 discuss antiviral drugs for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C infections, including novel nucleos t ide analogues and serine protease inhibitors, respectively.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Mayo Clin Proc v. Mayo Clin Proc. Raymund R. Razonable , MD. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Address correspondence to Raymund R. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Most viral diseases, with the exception of those caused by human immunodeficiency virus, are self-limited illnesses that do not require specific antiviral therapy.
Suggested Antiviral Drugs for the Treatment of Herpesvirus infections a,b,c. Open in a separate window. Famciclovir Famciclovir is a diacetyl 6-deoxy analogue of penciclovir. Foscarnet Foscarnet is a nonnucleoside pyrophosphate analogue that is given intravenously for the treatment of herpesviruses.
Penciclovir Penciclovir is an acyclic guanine analogue that is chemically similar to acyclovir. Valganciclovir Valganciclovir is the L-valyl ester prodrug of ganciclovir. Neuraminidase Inhibitors Oseltamivir. Ribavirin Ribavirin, a synthetic nucleoside analogue of guanine, is available in oral, aerosolized, and IV formulations. TABLE 2. Footnotes The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
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