Lines of defence

摘要

The influenza virus has adapted to render the first generation of flu antivirals impotent, and there are signs of resistance to newer remedies. In late August 2011, the International Society for Infectious Diseases, based in Boston, Massachusetts, reported that 25 influenza patients in eastern Australia were infected with a strain of the notorious swine flu - influenza A (H1N1) - resistant to the widely used drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), made by Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The Australian case is the largest cohort of oseltamivir-resistant flu yet reported as scientists and pharmaceutical companies explore ways to outsmart the virus.