Antiviral chemotherapy today and tomorrow.

Abstract

Antiviral chemotherapy has come of age. Several compounds, i.e. amantadine, rimantadine, idoxuridine, trifluridine, vidarabine, acyclovir, ribavirin and azidothymidine, have been licensed for clinical use and other promising compounds may follow soon. The search for new antiviral agents has been boosted by the advent of AIDS, but the activity spectrum of the newly developed antivirals not only spans retroviruses but also various other virus infections, i.e. herpes-, adeno-, pox- and rhinovirus infections. Clinical trials have been started with a variety of these new compounds and the prospects for an effective chemotherapy of several viral diseases certainly look bright.

• Authors: E De Clercq
• Journal: Annales de medecine interne (Ann Med Interne (Paris)) Vol. 139 Issue 2 Pg. 84-6 ( 1988) ISSN: 0003-410X [Print] France
• PMID: 3293505 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antiviral Agents

Topics

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (drug therapy)
• Antiviral Agents (pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use)
• Biological Availability
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Drug Therapy (trends)
• Humans
• Virus Diseases (drug therapy)