Asian Swine Flu Variant Showing Some Resistance To Tamiflu, Relenza

Reuters) - A novel variant of swine flu has emerged in Asia with a genetic adaptation giving some resistance to Roche's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza, the two mainstay drugs used to tackle the disease.

Researchers said more than 30 percent of H1N1 swine flu infection samples from northern Australia, and more than 10 percent of those in Singapore, collected during the early months of 2011 had mildly reduced sensitivity to the two drugs. There was no significant reduction in sensitivity to peramivir, an experimental flu drug from BioCryst Pharmaceuticals.

The new variant has also been detected in other parts of Asia-Pacific, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne, published in the journal Eurosurveillance (bit.ly/m5hgKv).

Although this genetic mutation has seen before in a small number of seasonal flu and H5N1 bird flu cases, it has not previously been reported in H1N1 swine flu.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/10/us-flu-drugs-idUSTRE7591T320110610

Stuff like this is why I get my flu shot every year as soon as they're available.