Resistance to Tamiflu Growing

Mar. 3 -- MONDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- A troubling increase in resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu is linked mostly to influenza A strains that are circulating this season, a new government report shows.

Almost 100 percent of the influenza A (H1N1) strain is now resistant to the drug, up from 12 percent during last year's flu season, said report author Dr. Alicia Fry, a medical epidemiologist with the influenza division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year was the first time Tamiflu resistance was seen anywhere in the world; H1N1 is the most common type of flu circulating in the United States.

"This makes using antiviral drugs very tricky for flu," said Dr. John Treanor, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "It is more complicated."

But, always, Fry emphasized, "Our message is to get vaccinated with the influenza vaccine. The current influenza vaccine has three different virus types in it, and the H1 strain that is in the vaccine is the same strain that is resistant to oseltamivir [Tamiflu], so the best prevention is still getting the vaccine."

"We're fortunate in that this is a very mild flu season, and we're not seeing either the numbers of cases or the complications that we normally see in a bad flu season," said Dr. Neil Schachter, medical director of respiratory care at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City and author of The Good Doctor's Guide to Colds and Flu. "While it is of concern that there are viruses that are developing resistance, it's not all the strains and it's not all the drugs. We're not painted into a corner."

Also, Schachter pointed out, many people with the flu are never treated at all.

"While there's still a flu season out there, everyone should get vaccinated," he said.

Another expert said some of the increasing resistance has less to do with Tamiflu and more to do with the natural evolution of viruses.

"It's not the same as the analogy to bacteria that have developed resistance when they get more virulent," explained Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "These are natural mutational shifts and drifts, not a result of the overuse of [Tamiflu]. Just because it's becoming more resistant does not mean that it's a more deadly virus."