One universal antiviral to rule them all?

And the part where he says people with this mutation are more prone to bacterial infections is not worrying, because…? In a world of more and more antibiotic resistant bacteria, that does not seem like a good trade-off…

Probably the issue is microphages being wiped out which allows bacteria to thrive. But you wouldn't take this _all the time_, only when you had a specific viral infection to get rid of.

One of the effects of ISG15 deficiency is a disease called "Type I interferonopathy".

Among the symptoms of this disease includes things like necrotic lesions and severe multi-systemic damages.

From what I gather the fact that these people are not more susceptible to viral infections was a surprise. Which probably relates to why the doctors in the parent article were investigating its possible anti-viral properties.

This is researched as a potential treatment to an acute viral infection. For the duration of the treatment, you can accept the increased risk of bacterial infections.

Just like you accept the risk of increased yeast infections while treating bacterial infections with antibiotics, or the risk of any infection while treating a cancer with chemotherapy.