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Antimicrobial Drug Resistance pp 411–419Cite as

Mechanisms of Resistance of Antiviral Drugs Active Against the Human Herpes Viruses

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Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

The antiviral drugs against the human herpes viruses provided pioneering insights, which have led to the development of the fi eld of antiviral therapy. The fi rst successful use of antiviral drugs to treat any life-threatening viral infection was Vidarabine (adenosine arabnoside) in 1977 (1). This was followed by the development of Acyclovir as the fi rst specifi c antiviral drug which required a viral enzyme (thymidine kinase, TK) for activation to a nucleoside triphosphate, which inhibited the viral DNA polymerase and was a chain-terminator of viral DNA elongation (2, 3). When tested against clinical viral isolates, acyclovir was most effective against those herpes viruses which established latency in neuronal tissue (HSV-1, HSV-2, VZV) (4), with some activity against EBV, and very little against clinical isolates of CMV in a plaque reduction assay (4, 5). With the possible exception of infl uenza A virus and amantadine, this marked the beginnings of antiviral therapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Clyde S. Crumpacker

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  1. Clyde S. Crumpacker
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Offi cer, Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Douglas L. Mayers MD

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Crumpacker, C.S. (2009). Mechanisms of Resistance of Antiviral Drugs Active Against the Human Herpes Viruses. In: Mayers, D.L. (eds) Antimicrobial Drug Resistance. Infectious Disease. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-180-2_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-180-2_30

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-592-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-180-2

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