ABSTRACT
Infectious viral diseases have existed throughout history and
continue to be global threats to public health worldwide. In contrast
to continually evolving vaccines to prevent viral infection, few direct
antiviral therapies have been developed for treatment. The only
drugs inhibiting viruses directly are interferon [1] and nucleoside
analogs [2]. For patients with viral diseases, drugs against bacteria
and parasites will be applied to alleviate the syndromes, while
the viruses are actually wiped out by the immune system. That’s
the reason viruses targeting the immune system, such as human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), are so difficult to kill. It seems that
prevention is more effective and important than treatment for viral
diseases. Unfortunately, long-term vaccines are unavailable for most
kinds of viruses due to the high mutation rate of viruses [3, 4].
