Challenger Treats Zika Virus

AbstractPurpose of reviewArthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are zoonotic, and the common vectors are ticks and hematophagous mosquitoes. Currently, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis virus infections have been causing worldwide concerns. In 2015, a large outbreak was documented with another mosquito-borne flavivirus, the Zika virus (ZIKV), and ravaging South and Central Americas and the Caribbean. ZIKV was declaring a public health emergency, because of the clinical evidence neurological complications.Recent findingsThe flavivirus infection is difficult to differentiate only with clinical manifestation. It has been reported 2366 cases of microcephaly or congenital defects associated with ZIKV in Brazil, and the mechanism or processes that lead to these neurological complications are still under investigation. No antivirals are available to treat ZIKV infection, leading to no option to prevent the fetal infection during pregnancy which could avoid the congenital Zika syndrome. In this review, we will describe the drugs that are being tested in vitro and in animal models against ZIKV.SummaryWe reviewed several publications that test the compounds for the treatment of ZIKV disease. We conclude that some of these compounds testing in vitro and in vivo have shown a therapeutic possibilities to consider and to be test in pregnancy and in individuals with high risk of infection.
Source: Current Treatment Options in Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research