There may soon be a new weapon to battle the dreaded West Nile virus.
Doctors at New York Hospital Queens will be testing the drug Intron-A this summer on patients diagnosed with the disease.
“Intron-A is a cloned version of interferon, which is a protein in our body that fights viruses and stimulates the immune system,” explains Dr. James Rahal, director of the Infectious Disease Section of New York Hospital Queens.
Intron-A is already used to treat Hepatitis C, a virus in the same class as West Nile. Lab tests have shown that the drug is effective in wiping out the virus.
But not everyone with West Nile will get Intron-A.
“We’re only going to use it on people who have developed encephalitis,” says Rahal.
Ultimately, doctors hope to have a vaccine to prevent infection – but that’s still years away.