Patents related to Dengue Virus Infection

Abstract

This review discusses patents relevant to dengue virus infection. Dengue virus is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that usually causes an acute self-limited febrile illness, but may result in more severe life threatening disease. The lack of animal models that replicate features of the human disease has inhibited developing an understanding of the pathophysiology of dengue virus infection and consequently, limited investigation into potential therapeutics. However, there has been considerable progress in vaccine development and recent insights into the identity of the cells infected during the course of dengue virus infection and characterisation of cell-surface receptors used to mediate infectivity, have provided important information with therapeutic implications. There is no treatment for dengue virus infection and no vaccine is yet available, new approaches are urgently needed.