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Thursday, September 22, 2005They found that resistance to amantadine and rimantadine increased from 0.4% in 1994-1995 to 12.3% in 2003-2004 for H3N2 strains. Of particular concern was the fact that 61% of resistant viruses isolated since 2003 were from people in Asia. In China, the incidence of drug-resistant strains in 2004 was 73.8%. In contrast, the incidence in Japan was 4.3%, and in the United States 1.9%. "The trend of a rising incidence of resistant viruses isolated from Asian countries compared with the lower incidence in the Americas during the period studied might be a consequence of differences in the procurement of amantadine and rimantadine in these countries," Dr. Bright and colleagues wrote. In the U.S., adamantanes are licensed as anti-influenza drugs that are prescribed for influenza or influenza-like illness only by licensed physicians. However, in China, Russia, and some other countries, amantadine or rimantadine are available in over-the-counter formulations and are included in various cold remedies that do not need a prescription. The authors warned that in the event of a global influenza pandemic -- an event which many infectious disease experts view as inevitable -- rimantadine and amantadine will probably not be effective for prevention or treatment of infection. posted by Sydney on 9/22/2005 08:31:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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