UW-Madison scientists working with colleagues in Vietnam and Japan have discovered that an avian influenza virus from an infected Vietnamese girl is resistant to Tamiflu, the main drug officials had hoped to use to treat patents in case of an influenza pandemic.
The findings suggest that health officials, who have been stockpiling millions of doses of the drug to hold back a global outbreak and buy time to develop and produce a vaccine, should consider other options, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor in the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.
But Dr. Dennis Maki, UW-Madison professor of medicine and head of the infectious disease division at University Hospital, cautioned Friday that more tests would be necessary to determine whether resistance exists.