Antiviral treatment in cell-to-cell or cell-free transmission

Some viruses can spread through cell-to-cell transmission, where they tunnel directly between cells. Cell-to-cell transmission allows viruses to avoid exposure to antiviral drugs. This project examines how cell-to-cell transmission can help viruses avoid this extracellular danger using mathematical modeling and computer simulation. A mathematical model was developed, and graphs were created with python to examine the effects on antivirals on key infection characteristics, such as peak viral load, viral downslope, and infection duration. The results demonstrate that high cell-to-cell transmission can reduce antiviral effectiveness, particularly for drugs targeting viral production, as evidenced by sustained viral loads even under high antiviral pressure when cell-to-cell transmission is prominent. Conversely, low cell-to-cell transmission correlates with improved antiviral efficacy across all measured parameters. These findings suggest that cell-to-cell transmission represents a major way viruses can resist treatment and highlights the importance of considering transmission routes when choosing what treatments to use.