If past history is predictive, during the 2009-2010 influenza season ~1 out of every 8333 Americans will die as a result of influenza and its complications. Although influenza kills ~36,000 Americans every year, >90% of those deaths occur among individuals aged 3=65 years [1]. A longstanding recommendation in the United States has been to administer influenza vaccine to those aged >=65 years on an annual basis. Antiviral drugs also provide prophylaxis and/or treatment for this high-risk age group, but influenza A viruses (i.e., the type most likely to cause morbidity and mortality in this age group) demonstrate worrisome resistance patterns to both the class of adamantane drugs, and more recently, to oseltamivir [2]
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