Tamiflu will remain as the the treatment of choice for the flu.  The scary part of this is that 3 of the 4 patients died who had the resistant flu.  CDC is investigating.  Relenza is another drug that can be used to fight the flu but has some limitations on who can take it, pre-school and those with imagerespiratory disease are out of the loop for this drug.  BD

RALEIGH, N.C. | A cluster of four Tamiflu-resistant cases of H1N1 flu at Duke University Medical Center has raised concerns that changes in the virus may make severe infections more difficult to treat. 

Three of the Duke patients died. All were adults, including two women and one man, and they had other major diseases, said Cameron Wolfe, an infectious-disease specialist at Duke. He said a fourth patient remains hospitalized.

The Duke patients were housed in the same unit of the hospital over the past six weeks.

The CDC, which has headed the nation’s response to pandemic flu, was called to investigate. Lab tests this week confirmed the patients all had the resistant strain. Wolfe said it remains unknown how and where the patients contracted the virus.

Another anti-viral drug, Relenza, remains potent, but it generally can’t be taken by preschool-age children or people with asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu causes new worry - KansasCity.com

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