Why Antivirals

• Antivirals are used to treat viral infections because viral infections are often resistant to treatment from antibiotics.
  
  

Prevalence

• Antivirals are difficult to produce. We still have yet to find an antiviral agent for HIV/Aids, and often are only able to reduce the presence of symptoms or slightly speed up the rate of recovery.
  
  

Changes

• Antivirals have to be continually changed because viruses are continually changing. Every time a virus changes, there must be a corresponding change in the antiviral agent used to cure the virus.
  
  

How They Work

• Antiviral agents work by inhibiting the way in which viruses reproduce. Antiviral agents activate specific enzymes, which catalyze changes in the virus that disables its ability to reproduce.
  
  

Vaccines

• Vaccines are made by introducing antiviral agents to an organism. The introduction of antiviral agents into the organism allows enzymes to be activated before the introduction of the virus, potentially allowing the reproduction of that virus to be halted immediately.