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There are several key points for why we don’t have exact medicines for viral diseases:
In summary, the primary reasons we have fewer precise treatments for viral diseases than bacterial, fungal, and protozoal infections are the basic biological distinctions between viruses and other pathogens, as well as the ability of viruses to quickly evolve resistance. The development of antiviral medications that are widely effective is still a challenge for medical research.
Developing exact medicines to cure viral diseases is challenging as compared to bacterial, fungal or protozoal diseases is due to the unique nature of viruses.
Some of the key challenges are:
1) Viruses require host cells ton replicate. They hijack host’s cellular machinery for their own replication. Thus it is difficult to target viruses without harming the hosts which they infect.
2) The drugs particularly antibiotics that are used to target bacteria work on the differences in the metabolic pathway or cellular structures between bacteria and human. But viruses lack a metabolic pathway or cellular structures that can be targetted by drugs.
3) Some viruses can persist in the body for extensive periods. Thus they may evade immune responses and antiviral drugs during persistent phases.
4) Immune response to viral infection varies between people. Thus, developing drugs that enhance immune response to effectively treat viral infections without any harmful side effects is a challenging task.
Developing exact medicines to cure viral diseases is challenging due to the unique nature of viruses. Unlike bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, which are cellular organisms with their own metabolic processes, viruses are acellular and rely entirely on host cells to reproduce. This dependency makes targeting the virus without damaging host cells difficult. The major reasons explaining the unavailability of exact medicines to cure viral diseases has been listed below.