Antiviral drug Tamiflu helped prevent deaths from seasonal flu in severely ill patients who had chronic underlying health problems.
Antiviral drug Tamiflu helped prevent deaths from seasonal flu in severely ill patients who had chronic underlying health problems.
Known generically as oseltamivir, Tamiflu is one of two antiviral drugs that work well against H1N1 swine flu. To check it's efficacy in treating flu patients already suffering from other health problems, researchers from China studied 760 older, severely ill patients who were admitted to two different hospitals in Hong Kong between 2007 and 2008. About half the patients in the study got Tamiflu while the other half got no treatment.
More than 60 percent of patients in the study had underlying chronic illnesses, and 78 percent had been hospitalised with complications from seasonal flu. The study found that Tamiflu cut the rate of death by 37 percent suggesting that the drug can help save the lives of seriously ill flu patients.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that the very old and people with chronic medical conditions should be treated with antiviral drugs either Tamiflu or Relenza when they have flu-like symptoms.
Health officials caution against using either drug in otherwise healthy people who have moderate or mild flu symptoms because of the fear of resistance. Influenza viruses change very quickly to put up a strong defense against antiviral drugs. Last year the seasonal H1N1 virus developed strong resistance to Tamiflu while two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine, now have very little effect against influenza viruses.
Known generically as oseltamivir, Tamiflu is one of two antiviral drugs that work well against H1N1 swine flu. To check it's efficacy in treating flu patients already suffering from other health problems, researchers from China studied 760 older, severely ill patients who were admitted to two different hospitals in Hong Kong between 2007 and 2008. About half the patients in the study got Tamiflu while the other half got no treatment.
More than 60 percent of patients in the study had underlying chronic illnesses, and 78 percent had been hospitalised with complications from seasonal flu. The study found that Tamiflu cut the rate of death by 37 percent suggesting that the drug can help save the lives of seriously ill flu patients.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that the very old and people with chronic medical conditions should be treated with antiviral drugs either Tamiflu or Relenza when they have flu-like symptoms.
Health officials caution against using either drug in otherwise healthy people who have moderate or mild flu symptoms because of the fear of resistance. Influenza viruses change very quickly to put up a strong defense against antiviral drugs. Last year the seasonal H1N1 virus developed strong resistance to Tamiflu while two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine, now have very little effect against influenza viruses.
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