Two flu drugs are no longer working

Dr. Julie Gerberding - Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The United States recommends that the two anti-influenza drugs amantadine and rimantadine be discontinued, after evidence that they are completely useless against the current human H3N2 influenza strain.

Test results on 120 samples of influenza H3N2 showed that it was resistant to amantadine and rimantadine in 91% of the samples. Meanwhile, this rate was only 11% in the US flu season last year.

"Do not use amantadine and rimantadine to prevent influenza or treat patients with suspected flu, because it will not work," said Dr. Julie Gerberding - Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). determined. Instead, appoint one of the two new drugs, Tamiflu or Relenza.

Amantadine pills

New warnings about amantadine and rimantadine only apply to seasonal flu, not for the H5N1 strain of bird flu that experts warned could mutate and cause a pandemic.

Dr. Gerberding said that it is currently unclear whether the spontaneous mutant virus is or is due to objective factors that affect drug resistance. However, according to some experts, selling over-the-counter medicines outside of the United States may cause flu viruses to mutate and neutralize drugs.

Tamiflu is a trade name of oseltamivir, distributed by Roche AG (Switzerland), while Relenza zanamivir of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (UK). The demand for these two products is huge due to the race of countries stockpiling to prevent pandemic flu.

My Linh (according to Reuters)