Antinorovirus drugs: Current and future perspectives

Human norovirus is now considered the main cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide. Norovirus-related disease is responsible for large numbers of deaths in low-income countries and vast economic losses globally. Frequent outbreaks of norovirus in hospitals (and other different semi-closed settings), constitute a major public health problem as they cause severe disruptions of normal operational service and compromise lives of hospitalized people. In addition to gastroenteritis, human noroviruses are also associated with other serious disorders such as chronic diarrhea, a severe condition which is frequent among different cohorts of immunocompromised individuals and especially prevalent in organ transplant recipients. Despite that there is a critical need for specific drugs to control norovirus disease and its spread in self-contained premises, there are yet no licenced antivirals or vaccines available. In the last few years, there have been isolated a considerable number of molecules with therapeutic potential to the control of norovirus. Several of these molecules exhibit antiviral activities in vivo, in studies carried out during clinical trials or in experiments involving animal models of infection for noroviruses. Here we review some recent advances achieved in the identification and development of antinoroviral drugs, and discuss future perspectives in this field.