Pandemic and seasonal influenza: therapeutic challenges

Influenza A viruses cause significant morbidity and mortality annually, and the threat of a pandemic underscores the need for new therapeutic strategies. Here, we briefly discuss novel antiviral agents under investigation, the limitations of current antiviral therapy and stress the importance of secondary bacterial infections in seasonal and pandemic influenza. Additionally, the lack of new antibiotics available to treat increasingly drug resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, pneumococci, Acinetobacter, extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing gram negative bacteria and Clostridium difficile is highlighted as an important component of influenza treatment and pandemic preparedness. Addressing these problems will require a multidisciplinary approach, which includes the development of novel antivirals and new antibiotics, as well as a better understanding of the role secondary infections play on the morbidity and mortality of influenza infection.