Antiviral therapy is the use of pharmacological agents and related interventions to prevent, treat, and control viral infections by inhibiting steps in the viral replication cycle or by modulating the host immune response. Antiviral drugs are typically designed to target virus-specific processes, including attachmen…
Antiviral therapy is the use of pharmacological agents and related interventions to prevent, treat, and control viral infections by inhibiting steps in the viral replication cycle or by modulating the host immune response. Antiviral drugs are typically designed to target virus-specific processes, including attachment and entry, genome replication by viral polymerases, proteolytic processing by viral proteases, and assembly or release, thereby limiting viral load while sparing host cells. Major mechanistic classes include nucleoside and nucleotide analogues, protease inhibitors, entry and fusion inhibitors, and immunomodulators such as interferons, and combination regimens are often employed to enhance efficacy and limit the emergence of resistance. For coronaviruses, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified investigation of repurposed and novel antivirals, host-directed and immune-modulating strategies, and cell-based therapeutic approaches to mitigate infection and its consequences. The peer-reviewed research grouped under this topic spans immune-modulator and interferon-gamma support in COVID-19, cell-therapy approaches to infection consequences, narrative and pathophysiologic reviews of SARS-CoV-2, and management considerations across viral and co-morbid conditions; several listed items address adjacent rather than strictly antiviral-pharmacologic themes. Understanding antiviral therapy, its mechanistic targets, drug classes, resistance, and host-directed options, is central to virology, infectious disease, and clinical pharmacology, guiding the rational selection of treatments that interrupt viral replication and improve clinical outcomes.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 16 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Antiviral Therapy, linking to each citing work.