Major Flu Strain Found Resistant to Leading Drug, Puzzling Scientists

Virtually all the dominant strain of flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.

The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far, and because the Tamiflu-resistant strain, one of three circulating, is still susceptible to other drugs. But infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless.

Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.

www.nytimes.com

I myself don't get vaccinated. I have not been sick with the flu since the 90's. I know that when you get a shot, you are given the flu, just so your body will know whats coming. I don't want to get into the whole getting vaccinated makes you more susceptible debate, I think we need to focus on finding more ways to combat the flu and other illnesses. if you just have your one trump card, you will find that it doesnt always work. the more ways we have to tackle these things gives you a higher likelihood of success.

en.wikipedia.org...

Oseltamivir (INN) (pronounced /ɒsəlˈtæmɨvɪr/) is an antiviral drug that is used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus B. Like zanamivir, oseltamivir is a neuraminidase inhibitor. It acts as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase, preventing progeny virions from emerging from infected cells.
Oseltamivir was the first orally active neuraminidase inhibitor commercially developed. It is a prodrug, which is hydrolysed hepatically to the active metabolite, the free carboxylate of oseltamivir (GS4071). It was developed by Gilead Sciences and is currently marketed by Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) under the trade name Tamiflu. In Japan, it is marketed by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., which is more than 50% owned by Roche. Oseltamivir is generally available by prescription only.
Roche estimates that 50 million people have been treated with oseltamivir.[1] The majority of these have been in Japan, where an estimated 35 million have been treated.[2]
With increasing fears about the potential for a new influenza pandemic, oseltamivir has received substantial media attention. Governments, corporations, and even some private individuals are stockpiling the drug. Production is currently sufficient to meet the demand for seasonal influenza and for government stockpiling. It is possible that shortages could recur in the event of an actual influenza pandemic.

Resistance
As with other antivirals, resistance to the agent was expected with widespread use of oseltamivir, though the emergence of resistant viruses was expected to be less frequent than with amantadine or rimantadine. The resistance rate reported during clinical trials up to July 2004 was 0.33% in adults, 4.0% in children, and 1.26% overall. Mutations conferring resistance are single amino acid residue substitutions in the neuraminidase enzyme [7].

In 2007, Japanese investigators detected neuraminidase-resistant Influenza B virus strains in individuals who had not been treated with these drugs. The prevalence was 1.7%.[22] In 2008, the World Health Organization announced that preliminary results from experiments with Canadian Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 showed that 8 out of 81 samples were resistant to oseltamivir [23].
According to the CDC, Tamiflu may not be able to treat a the most common influenza virus in 2008. Doctors are being warned to watch out for it so they can attempt to use other treatments if Tamiflu doesn't work.

It would seem that a fairly rare form (tamiflu resistant) of flu has been spread widely over the United States this year. One would have to think that the only way for such a rare form of the flu to become so widespread, so fast would be if the strain were given in the inoculations. I find it unlikely that a Tamiflu resistant strain has spread so fst otherwise. Only 50 million people have been treated with Tamiflu, with a majority in Japan. If Roche, or one of their competitors did not create a flu shot with Tamiflu resistant flu in in it, then the flu has to come from Japan.

It is sad that the Japanese have overused the drug, and have ruined its chances in the future because of the over prescribing of the drug in Japan.

If a Pandemic occurs, blame Roche (Chugai Pharmaceutical) for destroying their own intellectual property and possibly mankind because they could not exercise discipline in regard to to who actually needed the drug.

reply to post by drsmooth23

You say you haven't had the flu since the 90's. What do you think has kept you healthy. Is it your diet? Other lifestyle factors? Do you take supplements?
I have not had the flu either for almost 10 years, a couple of mild colds but no flu. The last time I did have the flu was right after getting a flu shot. I will not get another flu shot ever.

I have had the flu a few times in the past few years but I believe I had obtained the virus from travels.

The North to the South pattern seems to get me more then East to West travels.

This year I got a nasty virus that kept me in bed for a couple of days...but not flu related..more on the pnemonia viral thing..and probably got this from some of the enviroments I am forced to work under.

[edit on 9-1-2009 by whiteraven]

I think you might be missing the slant on this.
Its not like they are worried about an epidemic or something.
Because 80% of people have there own immunity to the flu.
What they cant work out is why there expensive wonder drug isn't working.
And are worried people might want refunds, medical organizations etc possibly even insurance company's.
I can work out why there drug doesn't work however.
Its because they throw them out the door so quick, in order to make profits, they don't properly test them and fake the results.

reply to post by Muundoggie


Well, i doubt its my diet, which is mostly pork, cow and spaghetti. I smoke cigs and hand rolled cigs as well, I drink pretty heavily, mostly beer at night, water durring the day. I workout, but never to the point of breaking a heavy sweat. Everey year since i left home mom says, get a flu shot, and i dont. and every year she is sick for about two weeks durring jannuary.

I dont hang out with too many people, because i moved to this town without knowing a soul, and I am pretty shy about establishing friendships. At work there are only three other people, and I usually come in direct contact with only the morning guy, because he uses my computer.

actually come to think about it, i havent stepped foot in a doctors office in a pretty long time, because i just havent felt the need.

--------------------

Oh yeah, the FDA guys are shaking in their boots right now, apparently people are starting to demand this whole accountability thing, which is very important.

Originally posted by drsmooth23

I dont hang out with too many people, because i moved to this town without knowing a soul, and I am pretty shy about establishing friendships. At work there are only three other people, and I usually come in direct contact with only the morning guy, because he uses my computer.

Thats probably your reason for not catching it right there. Avoiding contact with infected people is the best way not to catch the flu.

Wow, it would seem that the Japanese are the ones who are to blame for this.

By the time the Bird Flue ever hits the US, it will be useless to take Tamilflu.

I would imagine that the Japanese have already over prescribed Tamilfu so much that it probably should be taken off the market, to further prevent the resistance for future outbreaks.

Maybe the Japanese should try Chicken Soup.
(Maybe they could even make a vaccine with Bird Flu Chickens made into Chicken soup... it would be at least as effective as Tamilfu will be in a very soon...)

Perhaps Japanese Citizens who have been prescribed Tamiflu should not be flying to the US either....
DocMoreau

one way to combat most illness including virius is collodial silver can be bought in the store but is much easer and cheper to make its is done with the prosess of electrolisis but the electroids are .999 silver only in distilled water more info on youtube on construction also look up Dr. Beck and his blood electrofaction machine this machine was designed with Teslas help

I think the biggest way to stay SICKNEES free is to notice and react to your bodies signs that it is dehydrated..... we consume so much sugar and sugars take extra water to digest.