H1N1 Pandemic: Tamiflu proven ineffective

The National Health Board of Denmark has announced the first public declaration of pandemic H1N1 flu resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

They stress, though, that "there is no evidence" that the virus has spread, but further mutation is normal.

Although this case is said to be isolated, it throws further doubt on the doubtful and knee-jerk policy, introduced in most European countries, of giving low doses of Tamiflu to people in contact with infected people. Although, this is politically safe and very desirable and lucrative for the pharmaceutical companies, it is certainly not the correct strategy neither is it addressing the problems. It also allows the virus to mutate and develop resistant strains.

The Danish case, a contact of someone who caught swine flu abroad, was given Tamiflu as prophylaxis to prevent her getting sick, but she developed symptoms anyway. She was then given Relenza, another antiviral drug, and recovered but there is evidence that she would have recovered anyway.

The State Serum Institute in Copenhagen found that her virus carried a mutation giving further resistance to Tamiflu, and assumes (guessed) this emerged during treatment (contamination) rather than having been there already. Unfortunately, this guessing approach is not very scientific or clinical and is neither conclusive or acceptable as evidence based. There inability to prevent contamination is also worrying.

In defending the product and himself, David Reddy, head of the pandemic taskforce at Swiss company Roche, which produces Tamiflu says "Such a development is no surprise from a scientific point of view. Like antibiotics, antiviral drugs favour the survival of resistant strains."

Meaning, that Tamiflu has become even more ineffective against the resistant virus, than the original one, allegedly.