Version 1
: Received: 28 July 2022 / Approved: 1 August 2022 / Online: 1 August 2022 (05:41:34 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 6 February 2023 / Approved: 7 February 2023 / Online: 7 February 2023 (06:22:28 CET)
Version 3
: Received: 17 September 2023 / Approved: 18 September 2023 / Online: 19 September 2023 (04:16:16 CEST)
Ley, S. Popular Influenza Antiviral Drugs: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Resistance. BioScientific Review 2023, 5, 73–90, doi:10.32350/bsr.52.08.
Ley, S. Popular Influenza Antiviral Drugs: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Resistance. BioScientific Review 2023, 5, 73–90, doi:10.32350/bsr.52.08.
Ley, S. Popular Influenza Antiviral Drugs: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Resistance. BioScientific Review 2023, 5, 73–90, doi:10.32350/bsr.52.08.
Ley, S. Popular Influenza Antiviral Drugs: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Resistance. BioScientific Review 2023, 5, 73–90, doi:10.32350/bsr.52.08.
Abstract
Influenza viruses cause acute respiratory infections responsible for significant mortality and morbidity around the world. Because factors such as antigenic drift allow influenza strains to avoid being fully suppressed by seasonal vaccines, public interest has led to increased scrutiny of antivirals as treatment and prophylaxis options for seasonal outbreaks and potential pandemics. Unfortunately, many influenza antivirals suffer from a lack of sufficient clinical trials, as well as a lack of toxicity data; this is especially true of umifenovir (Arbidol), a popularly used drug for the prevention and treatment of influenza strains in China and Russia. Neuraminidase inhibitors, though widely prescribed, display a potential for future resistance. Adamantanes, while proven to be effective in treating influenza A, are already encountering rapid, widespread cross-resistance, and are effectively obsolete. Baloxavir marboxil, a newer antiviral, shows promise in treating acute uncomplicated influenza and may avoid the development of resistance when coadministered with other antiviral drugs. Indeed, the low genetic barriers to resistance faced by influenza antivirals may be surmounted by coadministration with other antivirals. This review explores the most widely prescribed antivirals for influenza treatment, their mechanisms of action, and current data on their susceptibility to resistance and efficacy at this time.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Commenter: Sidney Ley
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
The title has been modified to depict the review more accurately.
The language has been gone through and improved.
Current reference have been added in more appropriate numbers.
Influenza strain information has been added.
The conclusion has been modified.
Background information was added and the objective is more strongly stated.
Headings have been modified.
The purpose of the review has been emphasized and clarified.
The references have been updated.
Grammar edits throughout have been addressed.
The title has been modified to better represent the review’s contents.
The in-text citations and references now comply with the journal format.