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The Trouble With Tamiflu - Some Strains of Avian Flu Resistant to Drug http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Flu/story?id=1425047 Tamiflu has been hailed as a possible way to stem the epidemic. But will it work? A report in the New England Journal of Medicine today points to no. It details the cases of two Vietnamese patients who both died from a form of avian flu that was apparently resistant to Tamiflu, casting some doubt over the potential effectiveness of the drug. One of the patients, a 13-year-old girl, died even though treatment was begun at the ideal time — just hours after her symptoms had appeared. The deaths mean that public-health experts and individuals should consider broader strategies to combat the spread of avian flu, wrote Dr. Anne Moscona in an accompanying editorial. 4 out of 5 patients treated with Tamiflu in Vietnam died Citylife Forum 8 out of 10 patients treated with Tamiflu in the Ho Chi Minh City outbreak died. 5 out of 7 patients treated with Tamiflu in Thailand died as well. Finally, 4 out of 5 patients treated with Tamiflu in Vietnam died, with only the patient whose treatment was started the latest (in the 12th day) surviving! that works out to a whopping 77.3% mortality rate for avian flu patients treated with Tamiflu! To put this in clinical perspective, just 21 of the 37 other avian flu victims died -- resulting in a far less severe mortality rate of 56.8%. It would appear, there is no evidence for the widely repeated claim that Tamiflu is a clinically effective treatment for humans infected with the avian flu virus. Patients can develop resistance to the drug Tamiflu http://news.monstersandcritics.com/health/article_1071113.php/Tamiflu_effectiveness_unclear The publication of Oxford University study - which revealed patients could develop resistance to the drug - came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that an eight-year-old boy and a 39-year-old man have died of the virus in Indonesia. The official death toll in Indonesia has now reached 11. In the study, which was conducted in Vietnam, a 13-year-old girl died eight days after starting treatment with Tamiflu. Her condition improved initially but then worsened. It was found that the amount of the virus in her throat had gradually increased since the time she was first diagnosed with the bird flu. Tamiflu-resistant bird flu kills 2 in Vietnam http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/22/MNGOHGBLV51.DTL&type=health Two teenagers who died of avian influenza in Vietnam earlier this year developed drug-resistant strains of the virus during treatment with Tamiflu, raising questions about the world's reliance on the pills as the first line of defense against a potential flu pandemic. Strain of bird flu resistant to Tamiflu kills two patients http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-12-21-bird-flu_x.htm Two Vietnamese patients have died after developing strains of bird flu that were resistant to Tamiflu, the antiviral drug that nations around the world are stockpiling in the hope of saving lives if a global pandemic occurs. Their deaths, which took place in January, were reported Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine. A third patient, a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl whose case was reported in Nature in October, also developed resistance but survived. Doctors might need to find other ways to treat bird flu should there be a pandemic. Tamiflu-Resistant Bird Flu Causing Alarm http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13463717.htm Resistance to Tamiflu had been reported in the recent past. Two Japanese studies found drug-resistant viruses in children with seasonal influenza who had taken lower Tamiflu doses than those given in the United States. Drug resistance is a major public health concern and has been most widely documented with antibiotics, some of which are now impotent against powerful bacterial strains. Patients in Asia die when virus resists Tamiflu http://www.coxwashington.com/news/content/reporters/stories/BC_TAMIFLU22_COX.html Tamiflu resistance by other forms of influenza has been known for several years. Studies in Japan have demonstrated resistance to Tamiflu in 16 to 18 percent of children with seasonal human flu. However, the resistant human flu strains do not appear to have spread, possibly because mutations that cause resistance also seem to weaken the virus. Hayden said he was more concerned about the overall shortage of the two antiviral drugs than about the possibility that misuse could lead to resistance during a pandemic. The Vietnamese cases are "really the first indication that a resistant emergent strain can possibly lead to treatment failure". |
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