Drug Stops Influenza and Bird Flu Virus

U.S. scientists say they have discovered a novel compound that confers broad protection against influenza viruses, including avian influenza.

Opening what they call a new front in the war against flu, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers discovered a peptide — a small protein molecule — that effectively blocks the influenza virus from attaching to and entering the cells of its host, thwarting its ability to replicate and infect more cells.

The finding is important because it could make available a class of new antiviral drugs to prevent and treat influenza at a time when available antiviral drugs are losing their potency.

This gives us another tool, said Stacey Schultz-Cherry, a professor of medical microbiology and immunology and the senior author of the study. We’re quickly losing our antivirals.

The new drug, tested on cells in culture and in mice, conferred complete protection against infection and was highly effective in treating animals during the early stages of infection. Untreated infected animals typically died within a week. All of the infected animals treated with small doses of the drug at the onset of symptoms survived.

The research is reported online in the Journal of Virology.