Adverse virus-drug interactions.

Over the last 3 decades, epidemiologists and clinicians have identified a few clinical entities that appear to result when a viral infection and a chemical exposure overlap and interact. Ampicillin rash during infectious mononucleosis, Reye's syndrome following salicylate ingestion and certain viral infections, and the association of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma with abuse of nitrite inhalants and infection due to human immunodeficiency virus are examples of such phenomena. Preclinical research provides additional evidence that viruses and chemicals may interact and produce illnesses in animals. We hypothesize that other virus-drug interactions may exist. Identifying such interactions may lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of currently baffling illnesses and may provide insights into ways of preventing and/or treating diseases that appear uncontrollable now.