Inhibitors compounds of the flavivirus replication process.

Flaviviruses are small viruses with single-stranded RNA, which include the yellow fever virus, dengue virus, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, and Zika virus; and are causal agents of the most important emerging diseases that have no available treatment to date. In recent years, the strategy has focused on the development of replication inhibitors of these viruses designed to act mainly by affecting the activity of enzyme proteins, such as NS3 and NS5, which perform important functions in the viral replication process. This article describes the importance of flaviviruses and the development of molecules used as inhibitors of viral replication in this genus.

N-Acetylcysteine treatment of rotavirus-associated diarrhea in children.

Rotaviruses are the leading cause of severe, acute, and dehydrating diarrhea affecting children under 5 years of age worldwide. Despite an important reduction in rotavirus-caused deaths as a consequence of the rotavirus vaccine, alternative or complementary strategies for preventing or treating rotavirus-associated diarrhea are needed mainly in the poorest countries. We describe the cases of four rotavirus-unvaccinated 12-13-month-old girls and a 5-year-old boy who developed rotavirus-associated diarrhea confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Western blotting, and immunochemistry analyses. After the first day of diarrheal episodes, three of the five patients were immediately administered oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC) 60 mg/kg daily, divided into three equal doses every 8 hours. The other two patients did not receive NAC and served as controls. Administration of NAC resulted in a decreased number of diarrheal episodes, excretion of fecal rotavirus antigen, and resolution of symptoms after 2 days of treatment. Our results suggest that NAC treatment after the first diarrheal episode could be an efficient strategy for treating rotavirus-affected children and preventing the associated severe life-threatening accompanying dehydration.