A Quarter-Century of Antiviral Therapy

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Abstract
In patients with acute viral infection, therapy with systemic antiviral agents can save lives, as in the case of Lassa fever, or prevent the progression of disease, as in influenza or herpes simplex infection.1 The challenge is greater when these agents are used over the long term to suppress or eradicate chronic viral infections with such pathogens as hepatitis B or C virus, cytomegalovirus, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).1 This issue of the Journal contains two articles that show how a new nucleoside agent, lamivudine, can be helpful in two of these chronic infections.2,3 This drug is a purified . . .