Patent ID: 8026221

Claim:
A method for treating an active Norwalk-Like Virus (NLV) infection in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a host who consumes a food or water source contaminated with the NLV, comprising the steps of: a. providing a medicament or pharmaceutical comprising a compound having the binding specificity of the antigenic determinant of a human histo-blood group antigen, the compound being at least one carbohydrate compound that competitively binds with a NLV at the determinant binding site of the NLV, the at least one carbohydrate compound selected from the group consisting of: 1) at least one carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of fucosyl α1→3/4 N-acetyl glycosyl globoside (F3AG), in an amount that inhibits binding of NLV strain 207 to gastroepithelium of a non-secretor individual; 2) at least one carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of fucosyl α1→2 galactose globoside (F2G), in an amount that inhibits binding of NLV strain 387 to gastroepithelium of a secretor individual; 3) at least one carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of N-acetyl galactosyl α1→3 galactosyl globoside (AG3G), N-acetyl galactosyl α1→4 galactosyl globoside (AG4G), and mixtures thereof, in an amount that inhibits binding of NLV strain MOH to gastroepithelium of a secretor individual; 4) at least one carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of galactosyl α1→3 galactosyl globoside (G3G), galactosyl α1→4 galactosyl globoside (G4G), and mixtures thereof, in an amount that inhibits binding of NLV strain MOH to gastroepithelium of a secretor individual; and 5) mixtures thereof; and b. administering orally the medicament or pharmaceutical to a host that has a NLV infection from consuming a food or water source contaminated with the NLV, in an effective amount of the compound sufficient to inhibit binding of the NLV in vivo to a histo blood group antigen in the GI tract of the host, which inhibits the active infection of the GI tract of the host by the NLV that contaminates the consumed food or water source.