Current Status of Antiviral Substances

Abstract

Intensive efforts have been and continue to be directed toward discovering compounds which will be effective in the treatment of viral disease, but no clinically useful antiviral agent is yet available except IDU for topical use in herpetic keratitis. With increasing knowledge of cellular metabolism and of the pathways utilized by infecting viruses as well as additional insight into natural host defenses against viral infection, it seems likely that more specifically oriented approaches may lead eventually to more promising results.