Significant perspectives on various viral infections targeted antiviral drugs and vaccines including COVID-19 pandemicity

A virus enters a living organism and recruits host metabolism to reproduce its own genome and proteins. The viral infections are intricate and cannot be completely removed through existing antiviral drugs. For example, the herpes, influenza, hepatitis and human immunodeficiency viruses are a few dreadful ones amongst them. Significant studies are needed to understand the viral entry and their growth in host cells to design effective antivirals. This review emphasizes the range of therapeutical antiviral drugs, inhibitors along with vaccines to fight against viral pathogens, especially for combating COVID-19. Moreover, we have provided the basic and in depth information about viral targets, drugs availability, their mechanisms of action, method of prevention of viral diseases and highlighted the significances of anticoagulants, convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment, scientific details of airborne transmission, characteristics of antiviral drug delivery using nanoparticles/carriers, nanoemulsions, nanogels, metal based nanoparticles, alike the future nanosystems through nanobubbles, nanofibers, nanodiamonds, nanotraps, nanorobots and eventually, the therapeutic applications of micro- and nanoparticulates, current status for clinical development against COVID-19 together with environmental implications of antivirals, gene therapy etc., which may be useful for repurposing and designing of novel antiviral drugs against various dreadful diseases, especially the SARS-CoV-2 and other associated variants. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43556-022-00078-z.