Anti-viral approaches against influenza viruses

Abstract

Influenza viruses are a continuous and severe global threat to mankind and many animal species. The re-emerging disease gives rise to thousands of deaths and enormous economic losses each year. The devastating results of the recent outbreaks of avian influenza in Europe and south East Asia demonstrate this immanent danger. The major problem in fighting the flu is the high genetic variability of the virus. This results in the rapid formation of variants that escape the acquired immunity against previous virus strains or confer resistance to anti-viral agents. Despite successful vaccination against circulating strains causing annual epidemics the number of admitted measures to fight acute infection in risk patients is limited and quarantine is of limited help as the virus transmitted before onset of symptoms. This poses an even greater challenge when a completely new virus should hit the human population without preexisting immunity and start a pandemic. Therefore the development of effective drugs against viral functions or essential cellular activities supporting viral replication is of outmost importance today.