/oss/taxonomy/term/4534/all en /oss/article/covid-19-health-general-science/how-antivirals-create-paper-jams-stop-viruses-their-tracks <p>Here’s a counterintuitive fact: an antiviral drug does not kill a virus. The real virus killers are the virucides, like alcohol and bleach, that tear the virus apart. It’s all in the name, with “-cide” meaning “killer”, like in genocide and homicide. But scrutinizing words too much may lead us to think that antivirals are simply out protesting in the streets that “viruses = death.” The coronavirus pandemic has forced exotic names like remdesivir and lopinavir to form on our lips, antivirals that may, we are told, help us fight our invisible enemy.</p> Fri, 15 May 2020 18:27:45 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8248 at /oss