Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever: The Potential Repurposing Drugs

Abstract

Dengue is the most significant arthropod-borne viral infection of humans. More than 3.8 billion people live in endemic areas. Dengue virus infection (DVI) results in more than 500,000 hospitalizations every year, with increased threats of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) during secondary infections. In spite of the high disease burden of the dengue virus, there are no specific antiviral drugs available, and the approved vaccine is harmful in the naïve population with respect to the initiation of primary dengue infection. Several clinically approved drugs have entered human clinical trials. This review addresses the repurposing drug targets that have been investigated in DHF and DSS patients. Furthermore, their essential antiviral action and specific classes of clinically approved drugs have been clarified. These clinical trials' outcomes can enhance our understanding of the antiviral activities of these repurposing drugs to alleviate the clinical severity of dengue viral infection.