Abstract: This invention provides methods for preventing or treating infection by viruses, in particular an influenza virus by modulating transporters, carriers, and ion channels. Methods to identify, validate, and classify the cellular proteins required by viruses during infection of host cells in order to select agents which can inhibit viral infection are described herein. The method employs a siRNA screening platform and uses gene silencing to map the ‘viral infectome’—a compilation of cellular proteins that the virus needs to establish infection and drive the infectious cycle. Charting the infectome provides information on the viral biology by the identification of host cell proteins involved in viral infection and allows the development of novel anti-viral drugs that prevent the viruses from establishing productive infection in cells.