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Researchers Say Antiviral Drug Could Lead to Pill to Fight Smallpox

Aired March 20, 2002 - 11:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Researchers say an antiviral drug used to treat AIDS patients could lead to a pill to fight smallpox in the event of a biological attack.

Medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland is here with more on that. What's up?

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the drug we're talking about is called cidavofir. And while it's terrific in helping some AIDS patients, it's difficult to use, because it has to be given intravenously, and also it's highly toxic. It can cause dangerous side effect with the kidney.

So what's new here is researchers at the University of California San Diego have been able to harness this in the laboratory in a form that they think could be used as a pill, and it's very potent. So that means it may not have the dangerous side effects. Now when they tested in mice with cowpox, which is related to smallpox, it was very effective, and then researchers took it here in Atlanta to the CDC and tested on the strains of the virus, and they also found it was very effective.

Now, Carol, before we get too excited, thinking that we're about on the brink of having a pill for smallpox, but you have to remember it hasn't been tried in humans. Researcher say in about a year, they'll test in on humans to see if it's safe.

LIN: All right, so what are some practical uses then right now?

ROWLAND: Well, what the researchers say they hope to be able to do with this, is once they develop it into a pill, is, say, give it to the army, and just say they're in a region where smallpox could be disbursed as a biological agent, upon instruction, they could take it and then hopefully be protected, so then you wouldn't have delays in getting some kind of treatment to them.

LIN: But when you think about the anthrax scare that we went through. I mean, I've got to ask, what about us? I mean, what is the vision for this sort of pill, if it ever is released to the general market?

ROWLAND: That's a great question. I think everybody would want this in their medicine cabinet in case something happened, and those would be questions to be answered, because of course we know right now, the only real protection is the vaccine. But just say they develop this into a form where they could be kept that way, maybe it could be used, because we know right now we use antivirals all the time to treat, like, herpes and hepatitis and those sorts of illnesses, and they can be very effective in treating those viral illnesses.

LIN: All right, so one day, we might have a stock of Cipro, and a stock of smallpox pills and our Aspirin..

ROWLAND: You never know, but -- that's right. We need more tools just in case.

LIN: Right. And more research.

ROWLAND: That's right.

LIN: Thanks, Rhonda.

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