How do you treat viral infection

How do you treat a viral infection?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_treat_a_viral_infection

Normally viral infections can not be treated (they can be vaccinated against in advance) and the body just has to get better by its self. However there are now a number of antiviral drugs which can help the body do this by slowing (interfer…

How are viral infections treated?

http://www.skinspecialist.co.za/Molluscum_contagiosum.htm

At present, there is no cream or oral medication which can kill viruses without harming the body. Incidentally, there is no cure for any viral infection, unlike bacterial infections for which one uses antibiotics. Examples of viral infectio…

Are there any approved drugs that target a human gene product to …?

http://www.zirus.net/faq.html

Yes, maraviroc, an approved drug for the treatment of HIV marketed by Pfizer, targets a host cell protein called CCR5. Antiviral Therapeutics, A Jain PharmaBiotech Report, predicts that maraviroc could have sales of $300 million by 2013 and…

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

How do you treat a viral infection?

Q: 8 month old is running high fever, Dr. doesn’t give a prescription on tells us to give childrens Moltrin. Does this sound right and how long should it last?

A: Responsible doctors don’t prescribe antibiotics for viral infections because they know that antibiotics don’t help with viral infections. Unecessary consumption of antibiotics can weaken the immune system because they kill the healthy bacteria that lives naturally in the human body.Colds viruses generally take about two weeks to fully recover from. If I had a high fever and it didn’t go away within five days I would probably go back to the doctor and ask them to test me for a bacterial infection.

why isn’t acyclovir used to treat viral infections other than herpes simplex?

Q: Acyclovir is used to treat herpes and sometimes HIV, oral hairy leukoplakia, or epstein-barr. Why isn’t it effective against the common cold or other viruses? Also, does it need to be taken persistently and long-term to combat viral outbreaks, or only for 7-14 days?I’m curious from a medical perspective (I’m not a patient), so feel free to be technical in your reply.

A: Just like with antibiotics that are active against bacteria in different ways (mechanisms of action), antiviral medications also target different mechanisms — usually the reproduction cycle.The two main requirements for medication choices:- the process that it prevents/interupts must be an integral process of viral replication-the agent/drug is active against the virus while having an acceptable toxicity to the host organism.The antiviral drugs are made up of different chemicals (nucleoside analogs that can target viral polymerase and in some cases reverse transcriptase; peptide analogues that target HIV protease; Triazole carboxamide, which mutates RNA, eg. ribavirin — broad spectrum as it works on HCV, HSV, measles, mumps, Lassa fever etc.; tricyclic amines that target surface structural proteins; neuraminic acid mimetic that targets the neuraminic inhibitor; small cyclic chemicals that block attachment and uncoating; and proteins that target the activation of cell defense proteins.Attachment, Penetration/Uncoating, Genome replication, Gene Expression, and Assembly/Maturation/Release are the main targets in the viral replication cycle that agents target.Every virus is different and some drugs are simply more effective against certain viruses and less against others. It may have to do with the particulars of the viral replication cycle, makeup of the virus’ coat, etc.,.The duration of antiviral treatment is different for most viral infections and can depend on the virus in question, host factors (compromised immune system etc.), stage of disease/viral load, as well as other co-conditions. Hope this helps

Why aren’t antibiotics used to treat viral infections, such as a common cold ?

Q: a) Antibiotics inhibit enzymes that are essential to the survival of disease-causing bacteria only. b) Only protease inhibitors can be used to fight viral infections. c) Antibiotics enhance viral function.

A: AAntibiotic means “against life” and since bacteria is living and virus is essentially non-living, that’s why antibiotics is for bacteria and not viruses.