Talk:Direct-acting antivirals

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The term "direct-acting antivirals" is used specifically in the treatment of hepatitis C virus infections. Although most antiviral drugs act directly on viral replication, this term is not used for them. Graham Beards (talk) 09:33, 19 July 2022 (UTC)


 * It is clearly true that this term is of particular relevance to HCV because DAA are core to HCV treatment, but the term is not restricted to HCV. Acyclovir, letermovir, AZT etc etc are all direct-acting antivirals. The name already describes the meaning... you can also find a simple definition here: https://uwm.edu/drug-discovery/projects/direct-acting-antivirals-for-pandemic-prevention/.
 * A quick search of PubMed shows that the term also used within the scientific community for other viruses including COVID (SARS-CoV-2), HBV, dengue virus, enteroviruses, swine fever, chikungunya virus, influenza, etc etc. The describes an aspect of the mechanism of action, and is not indication specific. see: PMID: 32088166, PMID: 34271264, PMID: 33038433, PMID: 33622961, PMID: 34036784, PMID: 32495848, PMID: 26119058, PMID: 31325472, PMID: 26119058, PMID: 32041763. BMC RPS (talk) 11:15, 19 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes, I see your point. The problem is compliance with WP:MEDRS. A PubMed search for "directing acting anti-virals" and selecting only WP:MEDRS compliant papers (in other words review articles) returns hepatitis C articles. As you know, the term was coined to differentiate DAA dugs from interferons. For the DAA article we should stress this otherwise there is no point to having the article when we have Antiviral drug. I think all anti-viral drugs these days are "direct-acting", which makes the term somewhat redundant in a the broader context. But I'm open to thoughts and counter arguments.Graham Beards (talk) 11:22, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
 * There being no further comments after two years, I have merged this article with Antiviral drug. Since this earlier discussion, the definition of the term "direct acting" has been broadened. Graham Beards (talk) 06:41, 13 June 2024 (UTC)