Pavol Jarčuška, Pavol Kristian
Recently there has been a remarkable progress in antiviral therapy mostly due to intensive research on new agents for the treatment of HIV infection. We have effective drugs at disposal for the treatment of herpesvirus infections, influenza, chronic viral hepatitis and HIV/AIDS infection. The goal of antiviral therapy should be the viral eradication but in most cases only inhibition of viral replication and stopping of disease progression could be achieved. Many of current drugs selectively inhibit specific pathways of viral replication and therefore have a limited spectrum of activity. Antiviral agents are not effective in the elimination of nonreplicating or latent viruses and resistance is increasing during long-term therapy.