Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections. Like antibiotics and broad-spectrum antibiotics for bacteria, most antivirals are used for specific viral infections, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do not destroy their target pathogen; instead they inhibit their development. The general idea behind modern antiviral drug design is to identify viral proteins, or parts of proteins, that can be disabled. Once targets are identified, candidate drugs can be selected, either from drugs already known to have appropriate effects, or by actually designing the candidate at the molecular level with a computer-aided design program. The target proteins can be manufactured in the lab for testing with candidate treatments by inserting the gene that synthesizes the target protein into bacteria or other kinds of cells. The cells are then cultured for mass production of the protein, which can then be exposed to various treatment candidates and evaluated with “rapid screening” technologies.

In the present book, fifteen typical literatures about antiviral drugs strategies published on international authoritative journals were selected to introduce the worldwide newest progress, which contains reviews or original researches on medical science, hemadenology, virology, epidemiology, ect. We hope this book can demonstrate advances in antiviral drugs strategies as well as give references to the researchers, students and other related people.