Anti viral medicines

Viruses are the most common cause of all infectious diseases and are generally obtained within indoor environments and have substantial effects on human health. Its severity ranges from mild to life-threatening illness. Virus word is derived from the Latin word ‘venenum’ which means poison; they are tiny much smaller than bacteria with a covering of capsules and genetic material inside. Viruses can replicate them by infecting a host cell and therefore can’t reproduce on their own, like bacteria do. Antiviral drug therapy is given in order to treat the infections induced by viruses. They are of two types DNA virus and RNA virus.

Common diseases caused by virus:

• Common cold
• Influenza virus
• Chicken pox
• HPV
• Herpes
• AIDS
• Meningitis
• Measles
• Mumps
• Polio
• Rabies

Causes or transmission of viral disease:

They take a hostage in the human body and invade other living cells and keep on multiplying and making you sick. There are a number of routes from which viral agents can get access into the human body such as:

• Contaminated food or water
• Contact with the faeces of an infected person
• Indirectly, by touching contaminated surfaces such as taps, toilet handles, toys, and nappies.
• Close contact with an infected person
• Unhealed Cuts
• Breathing of the exhaled droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes
• Bites from infected animals or insects
• Exposure to infected bodily fluids through activities such as sexual intercourse or sharing hypodermic needles.

Viruses have a few specific characteristics which make them more powerful than other organisms. They have specific action as they selectively bind to an antibody and then trigger an antibody response. It keeps itself in the competent stage even if it is not reproducing as the virus doesn’t need any nutrition. A virus maintains a toxic state and becomes active when gets the right type of cell. They have the power of self-defense.

Signs and Symptoms:

Viral infections are generally associated with the following signs:

• High fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Sneezing
• Cough
• Diarrhe
• Abdomen pain
• Sore throat or rashes

The signs of viral infections in an infant are as follows:

• Excessive crying
• Difficulty in feeding
• Bulging of the soft spot on the top of head
• Excessive sleeping

Adverse effects of the problem:

Although some of the viral infections are easily treatable, but many of the Viral infections can cause severely complicated problems like:

• HIV
• Pneumonia
• Shingles
• Chicken pox
• Varicella zoster virus
• The development of some forms of cancer

Preventive measures:

To avoid catching a viral infection and to avoid spreading of the disease do the following:

• Cover your mouth when you cough/sneeze with a cloth or with hands
• Avoid using contaminated food/water
• Improve sanitization practices
• Properly wash your hands after touching a publically used object.
• Avoiding close contact with the sick person
• Never use shared needles/syringes for blood transfusion or drug delivery
• Always ensure safe sex as this can be really helpful in avoiding sexually transmitted diseases

Common Anti viral medicines:

Some common antiviral drugs are:

• Acivir cream
• Herpex cream
• Valcivir
• Stavir
• Zidovir
• Ocuvir dispersible tablets

So, you can buy anti-viral drugs from these online sites at very cheap rates as all these drugs are available on leading pharmaceutical websites,

Myths and facts:

Myth: Flu cant spread if you are well

Fact: Even if you do not show any signs of infection, still you can have virus cells in your body and can spread it to others. The best way is to stay safe and keep others safe.

Myth: chicken soup is necessary for a flu patient

Fact: although it is good to have something hot to drink to relax the breathing airway, any other hot drink may do the work equally.

Diagnosis of the disease:

Generally the physician determines the presence of viral infection with the help of symptoms like severe muscle and joint pain before fever, the presence of skin rashes, and lymph gland swelling. There are a range of laboratory, done to check the type of infection, these tests include:

• ELISA
• Cell culture
• Visual inspection
• Hemagglutination assay
• Histology ( post mortem)
• Antibody detection and Nucleic acid detection

Treatment for viral disease:

These are the drugs which used specifically for treating viral infections. They act and inhibit the development of the virus. They are relatively harmless to the host. Most drugs are prodrugs that need to be phosphorylated by viral or cellular enzymes in order to be active. They have a very restricted spectrum of activity and act on specific targets only. Its classification is based on the mode of action they illustrate at the different stages of the virus.

The virus life cycle is divided into five stages;

First stage: is the attachment phase, in which the virus gets attached to the cell wall of the host is energy-dependent, and is based on receptor-ligand recognition.

Drugs that inhibits attachment and penetration – Gamma globulins.

Second stage: is penetration in which it enters inside the host. The mechanism of entry of viruses is quite different. In phage, the coat remains outside and the contents of the virion enter the host, and the envelope virus penetrates via fusing with the host membrane.

Drugs that inhibit the uncoating phase - Amantadine, Rimantadine, and Interferons are the main drugs that act by blocking the viral membrane matrix protein M2 which functions as an ion channel and helps in the fusion of both the membranes. It is given in the treatment of Influenza A and reduces the duration of symptoms thus giving a speedy recovery.

Third stage: is the uncoating of the virus and release of the infectious nucleic acid from the protein coat. This is a simultaneous activity with an uncoating phase as nucleic acid enters the host and the protein capsid remains outside.

Drugs that inhibit third phase - DNA polymerase enzyme inhibitors such as Acyclovir, Gancyclovir, Famcyclovir, Cidofovir and RNA polymerase inhibitors like Zidovudine, Didanosine, Stavudine and Zalcitabine.

• Acyclovir and its congeners act by inhibiting the DNA polymerase and inhibit the formation of viral DNA. It is given in the treatment of Genital Herpes simplex Virus infections.

• Zidovudine inhibits the RNA-dependent DNA polymerase enzyme to block DNA synthesis. Initial drug of choice in AIDS patients with CD4 counts less than 500/mm3 and in asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals

Fourth stage: involves transcription and translation phases, in this released nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) is converted into active forms to take over the host metabolism and prepare important proteins for its survival. It further replicates to form a number of copies and spreads completely in the cell.

Drugs inhibiting this phase – Ribavirin, Interferons, Saquinavir, Indinavir, and Ritonavir are the structural analogs of HIV protease and block the maturation of virus.These are highly specific drugs and are active in acute and chronically infected patients. This is used in the treatment of advanced HIV infection.

Fifth stage is assembly and release phase. After a virus has made many copies of itself, it usually has exhausted the cell of its resources. The host cell is now no longer useful to the virus, therefore the cell often dies and the newly produced viruses must find a new host.

Drugs that inhibit the last phase - Interferons, Rifampin, and antiviral antibodies cytotoxic T lymphocytes block the translation of virus by inhibiting a protein kinase activity and stop protein synthesis. It is indicated in various conditions such as chronic hepatitis B and C, Herpes zoster virus infection in cancer patients, Hairy cell leukemia (in combination with Zidovudine), and in AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma.

You can easily buy these Anti-viral medications online from various reputed pharmacies at cheap prices

Steps to improve the health:

You can use herbs like cloves, salba seeds salba seed oils, ginger, lemon, licorice, olive leaf, oregano, and Reishi mushrooms to protect against viral infections.

Important thing to know:

If you have the flu (or a cold) and a fever, you need more fluids and a good nutritious diet to fight against viral infection.