Clinical Use of Antiviral Drugs

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Clinical Use of Antiviral Drugs

   • B. E. Juel-Jensen

   Pages 1-13

3. Idoxuridine or How It All Began

   • W. H. Prusoff

   Pages 15-24

4. The Treatment of Herpetic Eye Infections with Trifluridine and Other Anti-Virals

   • H. E. Kaufman

   Pages 25-38

5. Treatment (Bromovinyldeoxyuridine) of Herpetic Eye Infections

   • P. C. Maudgal, E. De Clercq

   Pages 39-48

6. Diagnosis and Treatment of Herpes Simplex Encephalitis

   • Richard J. Whitley

   Pages 49-66

7. Treatment of Herpes Simplex Labialis

   • S. L. Spruance

   Pages 67-86

8. Treatment of Herpes Genitalis

   • S. L. Sacks

   Pages 87-114

9. Treatment of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections in Immunosuppressed Patients

   • R. Saral, P. Lietman

   Pages 115-125

10. Antiviral Therapy of Varicella-Zoster Virus Infections

    • J. Englund, H. H. Balfour Jr.

    Pages 127-143

11. Treatment (Bromovinyldeoxyuridine) of Varicella-Zoster Virus Infections

    • S. Shigeta, E. De Clercq

    Pages 145-157

12. Therapy and Prevention of Cytomegalovirus Infections

    • Paul R. Skolnik, Martin S. Hirsch

    Pages 159-194

13. The Prophylaxis of Herpes Group Infections in Patients with Haematological Malignancy

    • H. G. Prentice, I. M. Hann

    Pages 195-206

14. Resistance of Herpes Viruses to Nucleoside Analogues — Mechanisms and Clinical Importance

    • C. Crumpacker

    Pages 207-222

15. Clinical Use of Foscarnet (Phosphonoformate)

    • B. Öberg, S. Behrnetz, B. Eriksson, H. Jozwiak, A. Larsson, J. O. Lernestedt et al.

    Pages 223-240

16. Prophylaxis and Treatment of Rhinovirus Infections

    • D. A. J. Tyrrell, W. Al-Nakib

    Pages 241-276

17. Rimantadine and Amantadine in the Prophylaxis and Therapy of Influenza A

    • Raphael Dolin

    Pages 277-287

18. Ribavirin Aerosol Treatment of Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial and Parainfluenza Virus Infections of Man

    • V. Knight, B. Gilbert

    Pages 289-304

19. Antiviral Therapy of Highly Pathogenic Viral Diseases

    • J. B. McCormick, S. P. Fisher-Hoch

    Pages 305-315

20. Perspectives in the Use of Antiviral Agents for Prevention and Treatment of Respiratory Virus Infections

    • S. J. Sperber, F. G. Hayden

    Pages 317-340

Antiviral chemotherapy has come of age, and, after an initial slow pro­ gress, the development of new antiviral agents has proceeded at a more rapid pace and the perspectives for their clinical use have increased considerably. Now, 25 years after the first antiviral assay (idoxuridine) was introduced in the clinic, it is fitting to commemorate the beginning of the antivirals' era. In its introductory chapter B.E. Juel-Jensen touches on what may be con­ sidered as five of the most fundamental requirements of an antiviral drug : efficacy, relative non-toxicity, easy solubility, ready availability and rea­ sonable cost. Surely, the antiviral drugs that have so far been used in the clinic could still be improved upon as one or more of these five essential demands are concerned. How is all began is narrated by W.H. Prusoff. The first antiviral drugs to be used in humans were methisazone and idoxuridine, the former, which is now of archival interest, in the prevention of smallpox, the latter, which was approved for clinical use in the United States in 1962, for the topical treatment of herpetic keratitis. In terms of potency, also because of solubility reasons, idoxuridine has been superseded by trifluridine in the topical treatment of herpes simplex epithelial keratitis. H.E. Kaufman did not find trifluridine or acyclovir ef­ fective in the treatment of deep stromal keratitis or iritis and he reckons that other antiviral drugs (i.e. bromovinyldeoxyuridine) would not be effec­ tive either.

• AIDS
• infection
• virus

• Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

  Erik Clercq

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