Antiviral

The investigational antiviral ziresovir showed promise for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants during a phase 3 trial in China, researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Use of antivirals to treat influenza in children remains low despite their wide availability and guidelines recommending their use, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Despite being at greater risk for adverse COVID-19 outcomes, just one in four nursing home residents with COVID-19 received antiviral treatment from May 31, 2021, through the end of 2022, researchers found.

Sublingual immunotherapy for house dust mite allergic asthma improved bronchial epithelial antiviral resistance to viral infection, according to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Mutations have allowed SARS-CoV-2 to evade previously effective treatments and preventives that have become a crucial tool for reducing severe COVID-19 and have made treating outpatients with COVID-19 more complicated.

The antiviral nirmatrelvir, which is part of Paxlovid, was linked to a significant reduction in the risk for long COVID and post-acute death in patients with at least one risk factor for severe illness, according to researchers.

WASHINGTON — Pegylated interferon alpha potentiated the antiviral activity of VIR-2218 in a small subset of noncirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis B, according to preliminary data presented at The Liver Meeting.

Although the emergency use authorizations for antiviral medications to treat COVID-19 have proven to be crucial in helping patients at high risk for severe disease, a potential wrinkle threatens to undo that progress.

The efficacy of direct-acting antivirals in people with HIV and hepatitis C virus originating from Sub-Saharan Africa and southeastern Asia but living in Europe is high, according to a recent study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Experts involved with an NIH trial of tecovirimat said that even as cases of monkeypox continue to decline nationally, it is important to establish whether the antiviral is effective against the infection.