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Old
drug may become new bird flu weapon
15March 2006
Amantadine, a generic drug created in the 1970s to treat
seasonal flu might become a new weapon to use along with Tamiflu
if a bird flu pandemic occurs.
Initial tests among the first avian flu victims in Southeast Asia suggested
the virus was resistant to amantadine, The Wall Street Journal reported
Wednesday. But evidence is mounting that amantadine might be effective
against some of the 130 strains of the H5N1
virus that have been sequenced.
World Health Organization officials in Geneva told The Journal the H5N1
strains found in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia seem to be mostly resistant,
but strains from China, Indonesia and Turkey seem to be somewhat sensitive
to the drug.
Plans currently involve using Tamiflu should the virus evolve and cause
a pandemic. However, WHO experts note amantadine and its older cousin,
rimantadine, are produced by many generic drug makers, offering a potentially
huge supply at costs far lower than Tamiflu's.
Source: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060315-124813-2714r |
