WHO says irrational Tamiflu use may make H1N1 virus resistant

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Irrational use of swine flu drug
can make the H1N1 virus resistant to the medicine making it
fatal as the Tamiflu loses its efficiency, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has warned.

The global health body has cautioned India as habit of
pill-popping or not completing the course of medicine as
suggested by the physician are quite common in the country.

The WHO, in its warning, has said that already 12
countries, including China and Singapore, have reported cases
of resistance to Tamiflu.

"The ability to constantly change is a hallmark of
influenza viruses. Flu virus often change from one season to
the next or they can even change within the course of one flu
season. Some changes can result in the virus being resistant
to one or more of the antiviral drugs that are used to treat
or prevent influenza," experts from Centre for Disease Control
and Prevention and WHO said.

"Irrational use of antiviral drugs could facilitate the
emergence of resistance," they added.

Explaining the phenomenon Dr Y K Gupta, head of the
department of pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical
Science (AIIMS) said, "Resistance can be because the virus
kills the drug or it learns to to live with that drug or
develops multiple resistance organism to it."

Influenza viruses can constantly change as the virus
makes copies of itself or replicates in a patient. (More) PTI