Review
New treatments for influenza
Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Cleveland State University, 2351 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, USA
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, USA
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:104 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-104
Published: 13 September 2012Abstract
Influenza has a long history of causing morbidity and mortality in the human population through routine seasonal spread and global pandemics. The high mutation rate of the RNA genome of the influenza virus, combined with assortment of its multiple genomic segments, promote antigenic diversity and new subtypes, allowing the virus to evade vaccines and become resistant to antiviral drugs. There is thus a continuing need for new anti-influenza therapy using novel targets and creative strategies. In this review, we summarize prospective future therapeutic regimens based on recent molecular and genomic discoveries.
