Curing the Flu? With Neem, Anything is Possible

The influenza virus is an extremely dangerous, rapidly transmitted virus with a high mortality rate. Each season, the influenza virus kills an estimated 50,000 people, causes 200,000 hospitalizations, and incurs costs of up to $10 billion in medical care in the United States.

The influenza virus genome, due to ease of mutation, is incredibly variable and therefore resistant to many drugs. This has made it extremely difficult to create an effective vaccine each season, as the drug constantly changes and there is no way for scientists to know which strain will be dominant in any given year. Originally, the virus was cured with protein inhibitors and neuraminidase inhibitors, but due to mutations in the virus, these drugs are now ineffective and obsolete.

A new, more effective treatment must be made, specifically targeting the areas that are consistent in the different strains, and that is based on natural materials instead of synthetic chemicals. A viral protein to target in the influenza virus is nucleoprotein, as it is evident in 81.78% of influenza strains. Nucleoprotein is an important player in the replication of the influenza virus, thus making it an ideal candidate for a universal target medicine.

Researchers have found that hyperoside, a natural compound found exclusively in neem leaves, is extremely adept at inhibiting nucleoprotein, This compound shows great promise and could hold the secret to treating the influence virus. Neem is a very viable option for natural medicines for many different diseases, bypassing the effectiveness of synthetic drugs in many situations!