{"id":143,"date":"2020-04-24T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/?p=143"},"modified":"2020-04-23T20:10:09","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T00:10:09","slug":"the-war-against-viruses-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat for your immune system. But what sort of weapons do we build to fight an enemy that is constantly evolving to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
My friend, Jules, made this plague mask and I feel like it fits well with the medieval metaphor. Plus, it looks very spooky. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            Anti-viral drug<\/a> is an umbrella term covering an enormous variety of drugs that researchers have developed to inhibit viral replication or to modulate the immune system\u2019s response to a viral threat. The diversity, adaptability, and simplicity of viruses make them dangerous opponents. We have developed a whole slew of antibiotics, drugs designed to kill bacteria.  Antibiotics often work against a broad spectrum of bacterial strains. Such \u201cbroad spectrum antibiotics\u201d are known to wipe out all the good, beneficial bacteria living in our body as well, because bacteria tend to have more in common with each other than they have with our cells. Viruses, on the other hand, are incredibly diverse in their genetic material, their outer shells, and their modes of replication and transmission. This diversity makes it near impossible to develop broad spectrum anti-viral drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            And even as we develop anti-viral drugs, the ability of viruses to mutate and evolve relatively quickly help them to evade our attacks. Bacteria can also mutate, but at a much slower rate than viruses. Antibiotic resistant bacteria<\/a> develop in response to antibiotic use, and while bacteria evolve slower than viruses, we still struggle to develop new drugs to keep bacteria at bay\u2014over 35,000 people in the U.S. die each year as a result of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The quick adaptability of viruses prompts doctors to sometimes use cocktails<\/a> of anti-viral drugs that attack different parts of the infection and replication process. The virus may evolve to evade one of these attacks, but remain vulnerable to all the others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Perhaps counterintuitive, the simplicity of viruses actually makes them harder to fight. Because viruses are really just genetic material enveloped in proteins and occasionally lipids, there is less machinery for anti-virals to target. Viruses also replicate inside our own cells; in order to target any particular step of their replication, we have to target processes within our own cells. This can interrupt normal cellular functioning and\/or harm our own cells, which may not be worth the risk unless the patient has a weakened immune system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Influenza virus”<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Sanofi Pasteur<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-ND 2.0\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            In general, anti-virals work by interrupting the viral replication cycle: (1) preventing the virus from binding to and entering a host cell, (2) blocking the virus from releasing its genetic material into the cell, (3) interfering with the synthesis of new virus parts, (4) hindering the assembly of new viruses, or (5) stopping the new viruses from leaving the infected cell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Any of these processes can be interrupted by disabling certain proteins or enzymes that the virus hijacks to help it replicate. A virus that cannot replicate dies. Some of the viruses may evade death by thinking on their feet and adapting to the interruption (not literally\u2014viruses have neither brains nor what one could reasonably call feet). But if the viral attack is weakened enough, then the immune system can usually take care of the remaining horde.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In some cases, anti-virals can mean the difference between life and death. This is the case for HIV, which attacks a key immune cell called CD4 resulting in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Because HIV weakens the immune system, your body is unable to fight it off alone. The standard anti-viral treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy (ART)<\/a>, which includes multiple drugs that interrupt the viral replication at multiple different stages. Since ART is a long-term treatment, the cocktail of different anti-viral drugs is essential to keeping the virus on its toes (again, not actual toes). There is no cure for HIV, but ART can keep the virus at bay and allow infected individuals to live long, healthy lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Fluorescent Pills – SW”<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0someHerrings<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-SA 2.0\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            In the case of more tame viruses, anti-virals can be helpful to lessen the severity of an infection. This is the case with drugs like Tamiflu\u00ae (oseltamivir phosphate)<\/a>, a drug that blocks a key influenza enzyme preventing it from spreading from one cell to the next. For many, the immune system can overcome influenza on its own with some days of fever and sickness. But the use of an anti-viral can shorten that period significantly and lower the intensity of the symptoms. This is especially important for individuals with weak immune systems or those who are more sensitive to the symptoms of a flu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Between last week\u2019s post on vaccines and this week\u2019s post on anti-viral drugs, I hope I have given you some helpful information on how scientists have been fighting the war against viruses along with our immune system. Next week, we\u2019ll turn our sights on Covid-19, and I\u2019ll talk a bit about the drugs and vaccines that are being considered to hopefully beat back this dangerous virus and get us back to a sense of normalcy.\u00a0Comment below or email me at\u00a0contact@anyonecanscience.com<\/a>\u00a0to let me know what you think about this week\u2019s blog post and tell me what sorts of topics you want me to cover in the future. And subscribe below for weekly science posts sent straight to your email!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and…<\/p>\n

Continue readingThe War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,7,5,25,24,6,8],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viruses","tag-anti-viral-drugs","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-hiv","tag-medicine","tag-sars-cov-2","tag-viruses","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat for your immune system. But what sort of weapons do we build to fight an enemy that is constantly evolving to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Science You Can Bring Home To Mom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"savmiller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"savmiller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"savmiller\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c\"},\"headline\":\"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1092,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Anti-viral Drugs\",\"Coronavirus\",\"Covid-19\",\"HIV\",\"Medicine\",\"SARS-CoV-2\",\"Viruses\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Viruses\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat for your immune system. But what sort of weapons do we build to fight an enemy that is constantly evolving to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24\\\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Science You Can Bring Home To Mom\",\"description\":\"A Science Blog For All Sorts\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/anyonecanscience.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c\",\"name\":\"savmiller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"savmiller\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs","description":"Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat for your immune system. But what sort of weapons do we build to fight an enemy that is constantly evolving to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs","og_url":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/","og_site_name":"Science You Can Bring Home To Mom","article_published_time":"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"savmiller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"savmiller","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/"},"author":{"name":"savmiller","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c"},"headline":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs","datePublished":"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/"},"wordCount":1092,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","keywords":["Anti-viral Drugs","Coronavirus","Covid-19","HIV","Medicine","SARS-CoV-2","Viruses"],"articleSection":["Viruses"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/","url":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/","name":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","datePublished":"2020-04-24T16:00:00+00:00","description":"Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines\u2014our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren\u2019t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes\u2019 glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat for your immune system. But what sort of weapons do we build to fight an enemy that is constantly evolving to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/the-war-against-viruses-part-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The War Against Viruses: Part 2\u2014Anti-viral Drugs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/","name":"Science You Can Bring Home To Mom","description":"A Science Blog For All Sorts","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2647809e5a0bc388f62d4e001f13123c","name":"savmiller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"savmiller"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cffc1ef49649fcb3f8a97c54c5e3fe89e853fe1e2b51375f642689b3b6716bf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anyonecanscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Covid19-destruction-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anyonecanscience.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}