Limiting viral infections with immunomodulating agents

Viral infections occur often and they can cause serious health problems. Despite the success of the current antiviral drugs and vaccines, new medication is necessary. In this dissertation, a series of experiments shows that specific drugs that can strengthen the immune system, are capable of protecting cells against viral infections. Here, particularly the substance interferon-beta turned out to play an important role. Moreover, it turned out that direct exposure of cells to interferon-beta led to long-term protection against a viral infection. These findings may be important for the future treatment of patients with an increased sensitivity to viral infections.