Infectious Diseases and HIV Conference

Antiviral drugs have a very big role in the control of viral infections by providing a broad range of drug therapies for various diseases. However, the development of antiviral resistance hampers public health as well as reduces efficacy in drug treatment.

This session focuses on the actions of antiviral drugs, appearance of resistance, and new strategies to combat this resistance. The antiviral drugs inhibit some steps of the viral life cycle, such as replication inhibition and lowering viral load. In this lecture module, we will present and describe multiple classes of antiviral medications, including nucleoside analogs, protease inhibitors, integrate inhibitors, and entry inhibitors.

Here you will find how they act on the cells infected by the viruses to inhibit the virus and the clinical roles for HIV, hepatitis viruses, influenza virus, and SARS-CoV-2 infections. This, in itself, will prove a real challenge to the traditional treatments, since resistance can prevent them from functioning.

The mechanisms involved in the resistance against antivirals, such as genetic mutation, viral recombination, and selection of resistant strains under therapeutic pressure, all fall within the scope of this session. With implications regarding treatment outcomes and public health, several examples of resistance in specific viruses will be discussed.

In light of rising resistance levels to antiviral medications, the treatment strategy must be revised. The goal of this session is therefore to discuss ways through which the care for patients whose strain of virus happen to have developed resistance can be improved by exploring combination therapy and tailoring treatment approaches.

This session is going to make the participant aware of the role of resistance testing and monitoring to ensure optimal antiviral therapy and subsequently better outcomes in patients. Issues with antiviral resistance indicate a need for more scientific and innovative research in drug development.

This session will focus on the latest developments in antiviral therapy-new drug candidates, repurposed drugs, and monoclonal antibodies. Discover how new technologies like CRISPR and RNAi are transforming the treatment of infectious diseases.

A roundtable discussion on future directions in antiviral drug research will be provided at the end of the session to engage participants into hearing the rationale for global collaboration and surveillance in the control of antiviral resistance.

In the session, participants will understand the public health implications of resistance and learn the imperative need for effective vaccination strategies and education for preventing the spread of the more resistant viral strains.