Flu Bugs Growing Resistance To Drugs, Studies Find

Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Reuters North American News Service

May 19, 2008 12:26 EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seasonal flu viruses are developing the ability to evade influenza drugs globally, but how and why this is happening is not clear, experts told a conference Monday.

Europe is the worst-affected by strains of influenza that resist the effects of antiviral drugs, but the resistance is growing globally, they told a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

"A significant proportion of resistant viruses were observed in Europe this winter," Dr. Bruno Lina of Claude Bernard University in Lyons, France, told the meeting.

The resistance also varies by strain, with a quarter of H1N1 flu viruses resistant in Europe and about 11 percent of H1N1 in the United States, but far fewer cases of H3N2 and influenza B viruses.

Their findings show that flu viruses -- already known to mutate speedily -- may be even more unpredictable than anyone thought.

Experts fear drugs may become quickly useless to fight an unusually severe flu season or the emergence of a new strain of flu that may cause a pandemic. They have been stressing the need to develop new flu drugs and also quicker and better ways to make vaccines.

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http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=175935

The viruses are......evolving!!!

Learning from Monsanto, and their herbicide/seed business

We need to genetically modify humans so that they will be especially receptive to the anti-viral medications. We can leave that to private industry. If the genetically modified people reproduce, then a fee will be owed to the company. :o