Anti-Influenza Viral Activity of Aspirin in Cell Culture

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Abstract
To the Editor: Aspirin is a drug consumed in vast amounts during influenza epidemics. It is thought to act by inhibiting the synthesis de novo of prostaglandins that cause pain and fever.1 , 2 However, that the drug may also act as an antiviral agent has not been considered previously.We report that aspirin can inhibit influenza viruses in infected cultured cells. Two influenza viruses, FPV (fowl plague virus [A/H7/N1]), a highly virulent strain affecting the chick, and Singapore virus (A/H1N1/6/86), an isolate of the virus responsible for the 1986 influenza epidemic, were used to infect Madin–Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK cells), . . .