The Food and Drug Administration (United States) just approved another drug for treating people with the flu. The new drug is called Zanamivir (Relenza). When people were given this drug within two days of the appearance of their flu symptoms, they got better faster than people who didn't get the drug.
Until recently, physicians had two different drugs they could use to treat people with the flu, amantadine and rimantidine. There are basically two major types of influenza virus that cause significant disease. These flu virus groups are called Influenza A and Influenza B viruses. Unfortunately, amantadine and rimantidine are only effective in treating people infected with the Influenza A viruses. People infected with Influenza type B viruses were out of luck.
The novel thing about zanamivir is that it can be used to treat people with Influenza A and Influenza B virus infections. The other unique thing about this drug is that it must be inhaled using a special device called a Diskhaler. The patient must take the drug twice a day for 5 days. This may be a problem for some people. It can be difficult for them to learn how to use the Diskhaler.
There is another drug that is effective in treating Influenza A and B infections. It is still in clinical trials and can be taken in pill form. It is called GS 4071. This drug works in the same way as Zanamivir does and will be a lot easier to use.
For more information about these drugs and influenza:
Scientific American's Disarming Flu Viruses article
Glaxo Wellcome product information
Take Care and Think Microbiologically!
Go To Page: 1
