Exploring the Role of Antiviral Drugs in the Eradication of Polio

Exploring the Role of Antiviral Drugs in the Eradication of Polio: Workshop Report, is a report of a workshop in which experts evaluated whether an antiviral drug against poliovirus would be helpful in the final stages of the global polio eradication campaign. The World Health Organization currently plans to stop using oral polio vaccine three years after the detection of the last case of transmission of wild polio virus. This is because the vaccine contains live, weakened polio viruses that can spread and revert to virulence in populations that have not been immunized. Under this plan, an antiviral drug could be useful to control any polio outbreaks caused by a vaccine-derived virus that might occur after vaccination ends and the number of unimmunized people in the world steadily increases. The report recommends that planning and development of such drugs should be initiated now. It identifies several promising targets for drug development and outlines the steps needed for planning for clinical trials and regulatory approval.