it turns off the immune response
it should not be used as a early pre-sickness medication because then your body is not sending the signals to actually say its being infected. thus your body wont fight the infection because the warning signals are not sent
it however once you know your body is got over the worse of it can be used to reduce the imflamation to recover quicker. but only once your body has truly battled the virus and its time to stand down your bodies response
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150513124930.htmthere are many types of interferon. and i find it not surprising that you would pick the one that can actually cause more issues.
seems like you want people to get sick
what you need to realise is. for instance
gamma interferon signals to create antibodies.
beta suppresses the signals
other things like the method of ingestion is a crucial detail
EG beta interferon in a buttcheek does nothing but give you a numb bum
gamma interferon on a buttcheek tricks your body into thinking your butt is infected and you get a sore bum
inhaling aerosolised interferon (nebulizer/inhaler) can get it into the lungs where its needed
thus with the right type of interferon used at the right time during the incubation/infectious/recovery stages be telling the body where to target the right responses to
note
there are also risks of increasing the other types of the interferons that do signal there is an infection because some types actually signal to kill off the cell. thus can cause more damage before a virus has even spread to the cell
its about knowing the timing and the right type to use and the right way to introduce it into the system
its not a guarantee of success but can be of some help if all goes right along with other treatments