[Ribavirin prophylaxis and therapy of experimental West Nile fever].

Investigation of the efficacy of ribavirin against the West Nile virus in standard cell cultures showed that in high concentrations it inhibited the virus reproduction (the inhibition coefficient of 100%). In the experiments on albino mice infected with the West Nile virus in a dose of 10 LD50 ribavirin was used in the form of injections in a dose of 20 mg/kg for 7 days in the scheme of urgent prophylaxis and proved to be highly efficient in protection of the animals from death (85-percent survival).