VIRAL RESPIRATORY-DISEASES - VACCINES AND ANTIVIRALS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 59  (3) , 305-324
Abstract
Acute respiratory diseases, most of which are generally attributed to viruses, account for .apprx. 6% of all deaths and for .apprx. 60% of the deaths associated with all respiratory disease. The huge cost attributable to viral respiratory infections as a result of absenteeism and the disruption of business and the burden of medical care makes control of these diseases an important objective. The viruses that infect the respiratory tract fall taxonomically into 5 viral families [Orthomyxo-, Picorna-, Paramyxo-, Adeno- and Coronaviridae]. Although immunoprophylaxis would appear to be the logical approach, the development of suitable vaccines has been confronted with numerous obstacles, including antigenic drift and shift in the influenza viruses, the large number of antigenically distinct immunotypes among rhinoviruses, the occurrence after immunization of rare cases of a severe form of the disease following subsequent natural infection with respiratory syncytial virus and the risk of oncogenicity of adenoviruses for man. Considerable expenditure on the development of new antiviral drugs has so far resulted in only 3 compounds that are at present officially approved and licensed for use in the USA. Efforts to improve the tools available for control should continue and imaginative and inventive approaches are called for. Creativity and ingenuity must operate within the constraints imposed by economic, political, ethical and legal considerations.