Anti Viral Therapy to Prevent Post Viral Diseases

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

We don't have a real anti viral drug to target e b v infected cells, says coen. A few drugs slow the viruss replication, but not enough to clear it from the body or change clinical course of infectious mono nucleosis. Latent viruses are notoriously challenging to kill. It's hard to jam up the viral machinery when the gears are barely turning. If we can unpick the relative contributions of the two phases and how the latent virus is reactivated, it could open new doors. Another strategy is to destroy the virus breeding ground, the bee cells.

Results from a huge epidemiological study found that infection by the Epstein-Barr virus increases the risk of developing multiple sclerosis 32-fold. This result, combined with emerging mechanistic insights into how the virus triggers brain damage, are raising the prospect of treating or preventing MS.

These advances come at a time when researchers are more interested than ever in what happens in the months and years following a viral infection, and highlights the issues untangling the relationships between infectious diseases and chronic conditions.

This is an audio version of our Feature: The quest to prevent MS — and understand other post-viral diseases.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.