Antivirals against (Re)emerging Flaviviruses: Should We Target the Virus or the Host?

The COVID pandemic has evidenced how vulnerable we are to emerging infectious diseases and how short our current armamentarium is. Flavivirus, single stranded RNA viruses transmitted by arthropods, are considered a global health challenge. No drugs to treat these infections have been approved. In this Viewpoint, we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of two different, but probably also complementary, therapeutic approaches: virus-targeting antivirals and host-targeting drugs.

Automated summary

This viewpoint discusses the advantages and disadvantages of virus-targeting antivirals and host-targeting drugs as potential therapies for Flavivirus infections. These two approaches may be complementary, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.