ANTIVIRUSES AS THERAPEUTIC AGENTS - A MATHEMATICAL-ANALYSIS OF THEIR POTENTIAL

Antiviruses are designed to inhibit virus replication and arrest infec tions. A particular antivirus derives from a specific virus, on which it depends for propagation. Antiviruses have a natural equivalent in d efective interfering particles (DIPs). To obtain design criteria for a ntiviruses, antivirus therapies for treating virus infections are mode lled by a system of equations with continuous dynamics. The results re veal that such therapies can eliminate viruses given either a large bu t achievable inoculum of antivirus or an outcompeting advantage to the antivirus. Since such therapies are relatively insensitive to many pa rameters of infections, they may be applicable to many viral diseases. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.