What happened to the SARS virus?

Have you ever wondered what's happening to global efforts at decimating the virus?

Following is one development. (Just skim through the unintelligible techie terms.)

Treatment of SARS with human interferons

Effective antiviral agents are needed to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated corona virus (SARS-CoV) infection. Cinatl et al. assessed the antiviral potential of recombinant interferons against two clinical isolates of SARS-CoV - FFM-1 from Frankfurt patients and Hong Kong - replicated in Vero and Caco2 cells. Interferon (IFN)-beta was five to ten times more effective in Caco2 cells. IFN effectively inhibited SARS-CoV replication, but with a selectivity index 50-90 times lower than that for IFN. In contrast, IFN was slightly better than IFN in Vero cell cultures, but was completely ineffective in Caco2 cell cultures. IFN could be useful alone or in combination with other antiviral drugs for the treatment of SARS.

Lancet 2003; 362:293

E. Israeli