An antiviral agent is provided which can inactivate a widerange of viruses. Products that include such an antiviral agentare also provided.The present invention provides an antiviral agent thatcontainsas an active ingredient a particle of at least one kind of iodidecomposed of iodine and an element shown in Period 4 to Period 6and Group 8 to Group 15 of a periodic table or at least one kindof monovalent copper compound. The antiviral agent of the presentinvention can be designed at a higher degree of freedom in termsof its constituents as compared to conventional antiviral agents.In addition, the antiviral agent can readily exhibit and maintainits antiviral activity because it doesn' t require any pretreatmentsor special washing processes.
