Flu Found Resistant to Main Antiviral Drug

Source: New York Times

Virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why.

The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this is a below-average flu season so far and the chief strain circulating is still susceptible to other drugs — but infectious disease specialists are nonetheless worried.

Last winter, about 11 percent of the throat swabs from patients with the most common type of flu that were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for genetic typing showed a Tamiflu-resistant strain. This season, 99 percent do.

“It’s quite shocking,” said Dr. Kent A. Sepkowitz, director of infection control at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “We’ve never lost an antibiotic this fast. It blew me away.”



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/health/09flu.html?_r=1

anyhow.

Fucking stupid article, i'd say.

It was formulated to be effetive against a form of influenza A that has long since mutated; the virus changed and now it doesn't work.

Maybe it's an error by the journalist? Can't imagine he'd be that dumb.

Only antivirals. Viruses are constantly mutating though.

withstand viral strains and also effect how our bodies react to both bacteria and viral strains... but don't want to argue about it.

Which is why I deleted my original, poorly worded post.

People are living longer though and I haven't noticed people being more sick. I'm more concerned with artificial hormones in the food supply though :).

:sarcasm:

:eyes:

:eyes:

echinacea and vitamin C

I can't recommend collodial silver enough.

But if you take zinc too long it becomes toxic. So I cycle Zinc and silver. That gets me through flu season.

The more you take the better.

:thumbsup:

.

wow, i never knew that. when i'm coming down with a virus, i usually take them every two hours or so until the symptoms subside. :shrug: isn't that what you're supposed to do?

you scared me for a minute! i only use it for short-term prevention, so guess i'm safe.

i haven't.

For a period when I was in my 60's I used to get flu shots. But still got the flu. Because every year there was a new strain the flu shot didn't cover. So I went back what we used to do when I was a kid back in the 30's and 40's. Cycle zinc and silver.

http://ods.od.nih.gov/FactSheets/Zinc.asp

Check the chart on "tolerable upper limit" towards the middle of the article.

I emailed the author and he's changed the word "antibiotic" to "antimicrobial".

Repeat often. Pretty simple.

Seriously, whatever processed vitamins you take are no substitute for what you get from fruit and veg. I haven't had a bad flu since 1998, and I swear by cellulose anti-oxidants before I'd ever get a shot!!