Influenza A virus and its antiviral drug treatment options

Abstract

Influenza is an age-old disease. With its pandemic spread over various centuries, the virus remains one of the most challenging ones in the environment. Its fast-changing genome, RNA, is highly dynamic, and new variants of all the strains are discovered each year. Influenza A remains the most prevalent strain to infect the human race. With its fast multiplication rate, a sudden spike in hospitalization and high demand for antiviral drugs is seen during flu seasons. Antiviral drugs are considered the most suitable and specific since they attack particular steps of viral replication and halt it. Amantadine and Rimantadine were quite successful in their time, but the discovery of resistant strains of the virus limited humans from using it as a potent drug. Against all odds, the duo still provides a lot of information to learn from and implement in the field of research and also forms a base for discovering or formulating a more potent and long-lasting drug. Even though people rely more on vaccines, it is because of these drugs that any unprecedented situations, even in the vaccinated individuals, can be prevented and the lives of numerous patients can be saved. Amongst all the drugs, Baloxavir marboxil, Zanamivir, and Peramivir are preferred by most health systems because of their recent discovery, highly specific nature, and even high bioavailability. Parallel to antiviral drugs, nanotechnology is emerging as a new alternative for the treatment of Influenza.