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Antiviral Drug Mechanism

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An antiviral drug blocks a viral protein's function, without targeting proteins the host cell's healthy metabolism depends on.

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Tamiflu inhibits the influenza enzyme neuraminidase, blocking new virions from detaching and spreading to uninfected cells.

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An antiviral drug's specificity to viral-only proteins is what limits its side effects— a drug hitting host proteins too would harm the patient.