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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Singapore : Doctors discover Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 superbug

Via Channel News Asia :

" SINGAPORE: A team of Singapore doctors has found a mutant H1N1 virus resistant to Tamiflu - the antiviral drug used to treat it.

The superbug was detected in a sample from a previously healthy 28-year-old female patient, at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The mutant strain developed within two days of exposure to the drug. Doctors said less than one per cent of flu is currently resistant.

But they added clinicians should consider resistance when patients who are seriously ill with flu fail to respond to treatment for H1N1.

That's because the strain can evolve almost overnight.

Researchers noted that anti-viral drugs should be given only when necessary as they have limited benefit in mild infections.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital senior consultant in laboratory medicine Timothy Barkham said: "As with all antimicrobial medicines, we should not give patients anti-viral drugs unless it is really necessary, in order to preserve them for patients who really need them."

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