Flu Pandemic Ahead: Common strain of Influenza has become resistant to Oseltamivir

[Antaletriangle]

http://www.lifegen.de/newsip/shownew...03-1609&pc=s01

Beginning in 2006, oseltamivir was one of just two recommended anti-viral agents used for the treatment or prevention of influenza. But new research from the CDC, reported in JAMA, finds that one strain of the illness is becoming increasingly resistant to this frequently prescribed medicine. During the 2007-2008 flu season, the CDC found that 12.6% of the influenza A H1N1 viruses tested were resistant to oseltamivir. During the current season, approximately 98.5%, of influenza A (H1N1) viruses tested (to date) were resistant to oseltamivir. Such news are bad because pandemic avian influenza could be on its way to conquer the world - and a mixture between avian and human strains would result in the long expected virological disaster. by Vlad Dan Georgescu and Marita Vollborn


First deaths in Asia concerned little children, which from virological point of view is a rather new aspect, and could be the evidence for a new spread. While scientists expect this pandemic to happen in the near future, the President Barack Obama should stay alert as another aspect gety its own dynamics: A coming influenza pandemic would deteriorate the global economy even without financial crisis or recession.

First evidence for the global threat comes from China, where a 2 year old girl has been confirmed to be infected with bird flu in the northern Shanxi Province, as government officials said a few weeks ago. The child was found ill on 7th of January in the central Hunan province - the little patient still is in critical condition. According to the test result of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the girl had been tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.

On the other site of the globe, the Ministry of Health and Population of Egypt announced a new human case of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus infection last week, the case being a 21 month old girl Kerdasa District.

“Infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus was diagnosed by PCR at the Egyptian Central Public Health Laboratory and subsequently confirmed by the U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3) laboratories”, reports the special wire PROMED. According to PROMED, investigations into the source of her infection indicate a recent history of contact with sick and dead poultry - 23 similar cases in Egypt have been fatal up to date.

Old Europe as leading research power?

Given such facts, Mr. Obama should follow European research policy: European research on vaccine development for pandemic influenza has been financed since 2001 by the European Union. Early projects worked to develop an egg-free vaccine, which is faster and safer to produce, along with innovative application techniques. Research is now underway with the objectives of fighting the disease at the source (infected birds) and protecting human populations through pandemic influenza vaccines. Future EU research will improve vaccine efficiency by adding adjuvants, substances that boost the body’s immune response to vaccine antigen. Additionally, research teams are currently focused on developing a universal flu vaccine that could provide a lifetime of protection from influenza.

Latest surveillance data coming through the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) from virologists and clinicians indicates that the influenza A(H3N2) virus is the predominant strain in Europe so far this season (2008/2009). Based on the data published by ECDC the pharmaceutical company Roche confirms that the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is fully active against influenza A(H3N2) and influenza B, which currently comprise 94 percent of circulating viruses in Europe this year. Tamiflu resistance reported in the 2008-2009 influenza seasons is confined to H1N1. No resistance has been seen with other circulating seasonal viruses - H3N2 and influenza B.

"Recent media reporting has elevated awareness of the H1N1 seasonal resistance seen this year in the United States and the Far East. However, in Europe the picture is different with H3N2 being the dominant strain so far. The circulating H3N2 viruses, which often cause a more severe illness than H1N1, are sensitive to oseltamivir, which means that oseltamivir will be active against the vast majority of influenza infections in Europe this season, if current trends continue," comments Prof Albert Osterhaus, Head of Virology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam. "It is important that doctors understand that oseltamivir remains an effective treatment for patients across Europe."

Flu alert for the new President

However, the situation in the United States is more alerting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A new University of Colorado at Boulder study showed the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs "is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested", as the scientists report. Even if the expected influenza pandemic did not start yet, there is no doubt about the comeback of the lethal virus: The first Pandemic Influenza occurred in three waves in the United States - exactly 90 years ago, between 1918 and 1919.

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Flu Pandemic Would Catch U.S. Unprepared
http://www.naturalnews.com/025776.html

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that the nation is unprepared for the true effects of a pandemic such as that expected from avian flu.

The department conducted a survey of the emergency preparedness plans of all 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia. It concluded that while most of the country is well prepared to distribute vaccines and antiviral drugs to combat an influenza pandemic, this forms only one small part of what needs to be done.

Transportation plans for a pandemic are still far from adequate, the department says. Furthermore, many states and territories are still planning as if a pandemic would be only a short incident, rather than months of social and economic disruption that could easily spread across the world.

Health experts now accept that some sort of pandemic will inevitably strike the United States -- most likely a mutant variation on the highly lethal avian flu strain H5N1, which has infected and killed 394 and 248 people to date, respectively. Currently, the disease does not pass easily to or between humans, but researchers worry that it would take only a few simple mutations for that to change.

Yet while a future pandemic is accepted as reality in health circles, many governments and hospitals continue to rank preparation low on their list of priorities. For example, most hospitals have not yet made plans for the "surge" of patients that a rapidly spreading disease would cause.

"The vast majority of hospitals are like the vast majority of other elements -- they are in the private sector," said Dr. Til Jolly, deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Homeland Security. "And economic times are tough."

The federal government has also played a role in diverting money and attention from pandemic preparedness.

"Federal funding for state and territorial pandemic preparedness ended in August 2008," said Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "In addition, overall federal funding for preparedness activities has been cut by 25 percent since 2005."

Sources for this story include: uk.reuters.com.

[alyscat]

Gee, what a shame, Donald Rumsfield will not make his millions on Tamiflu (although, knowing the government and their "transparency" he may well, afterall) -
alys