Friday February 22 2013 Strains of flu can develop resistance to
antiviral drugs ‘Flu drug shows promise in overcoming
resistance’, reports BBC news, saying that scientists have found
a way to permanently block the flu virus from spreading to other
cells. This was early stage laboratory and animal research
examining the effectiveness of a possible new antiviral
treatment for flu. Currently there are two anti-flu drugs
available on the market in the UK, oseltamivir (brand name
Tamiflu) and zanamivir, (brand name Relenza). Both of these
drugs work by blocking a viral enzyme which helps the flu virus
to infect new cells. The problem is that widespread use of these
drugs is allowing flu viruses to develop resistance to them. New
drugs are always going to be needed to fight such infections,
just as new vaccines are regularly needed. The new drug works in
a similar way to the existing drugs: slowing down the process by
which flu viruses spread to new cells. In the laboratory,
researchers found that the new chemical