Breakthrough approach to treating viral infections

Exciting discovery with immediate application for preventing terrorist attacks with the smallpox virus. Mouse experiments have shown that combining this new drug with a single antibody injection cleared the lungs of a smallpox-like virus in just eight days. The drug fights viral diseases by blocking cellular signaling pathways that viruses depend on for reproduction..."We now have a model of an approach that can potentially be used to treat a wide array of acute viral conditions," according to the study's director.

Targeting cells carries a higher probability of success since they don't mutate with the speed and agility that viruses themselves do--and can allow the body's immune system to do its job more effectively.

Funded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) as part of a battle against bioterrorism, it seems that after all, maybe the heavy focus on defense may eventually result in long-term gains for patients at many levels.

Well, none too soon to start countering those new infectious diseases being introduced by those drug-resistant forces we created by overindulging ourselves in antibiotics all these decades...