Anti-Flu Drugs Losing Punch

April 3, 2007 — -- Tamiflu and Relenza, two anti-viral drugs commonly used to treat influenza, may be losing their effectiveness as the flu virus adapts, Japanese scientists report in a new study.

The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reports yet another obstacle in the fight against the flu.

The research suggests that scientists may have to find new ways to combat growing resistance to current flu treatments -- and possibly rethink the strategy for preventing a global flu pandemic.

There are three types of viruses that cause the flu: influenza types A, B and C. Drugs like Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche, and Relenza, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, are designed to fight the A and B types -- the two most responsible for yearly flu outbreaks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 36,000 people in the United States die every year from the flu.

Influenza A viruses -- among which is the H5N1 virus responsible for bird flu -- cause regular outbreaks of flu and can infect animals. Influenza B viruses are responsible for sporadic outbreaks of flu, while influenza C viruses rarely cause symptoms.

When an infectious agent such as a virus changes, or mutates, in such a way as to render a drug against it less effective, the virus is said to be drug-resistant.

The concept of flu resistance to anti-viral drugs is not new. While some influenza A viruses have already been found to be resistant to anti-viral agents, this report is the first to identify resistant strains of influenza B.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1999, Tamiflu and Relenza are relatively new additions to our armaments against the flu. They work by reducing the number of viruses released by infected cells. Fewer viruses means a lower chance of viral spread -- and a higher chance of survival for the infected individual.

Tamiflu is by far the more frequently used of the two anti-viral drugs, with more than 50 million patient treatments worldwide since its approval. Japan is the greatest user of medicines like Tamiflu, and more than 90 percent of all such prescriptions are for Tamiflu.