New medicines to be acquired for bird flu
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Finland is to buy new medicines to fight a possible outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu.
Up to now, preparations for a bird flu pandemic have consisted of stockpiling the anti-viral medicine Tamiflu.
However, the effectiveness of Tamiflu against one of the most common flu viruses has decreased considerably in the past couple of years.
Most of the versions of the H1N1 virus that have been found in recent years in Europe and the United States have been resistant to the commonly used Tamiflu.
This year’s Finnish influenza virus is a different one - H3N2, against which Tamiflu still works well, says Thedi Ziegler, head of the influenza laboratory of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
The H1N1 virus, which has milder symptoms, appears in Finland at regular intervals. Ziegler says that Tamiflu has rarely been used against it.
The increased resistance of H1N1 against Tamiflu has raised concerns that the feared bird flu could also evolve to become immune to medicines. This is why Finland is acquiring other flu medicines in addition to Tamiflu, says Tapani Melkas of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Melkas notes that the issue is not an urgent one, as there has not been much bird flu around the world in recent times.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 4.3.2009 - TODAY |
 New medicines to be acquired for bird flu |
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