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Wednesday, 9 August 2023

Treatments for poxviruses -- including those causing mpox and smallpox -- may already exist in licensed drugs

The drug tecovirimat is currently in use for the treatment of mpox -- the disease caused by monkeypox virus -- that spread worldwide in 2022. Tecovirimat is an anti-poxviral drug, and its use is driving the emergence of drug-resistant variants of the monkeypox virus. Scientists have identified how monkeypox virus exploits a cellular protein to evade host defenses, allowing it to replicate and spread better. Existing drugs -- developed to treat other viral infections -- also target this cellular protein. When tested against a range of poxviruses, including monkeypox, these drugs were found to have antiviral effects in all cases.

from All Top News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/98VkJse

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