News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) are useful for treating H7N9 influenza infections, but there are worrisome signs that resistance can easily develop when patients take the drug, which can lead to a poor prognosis, researchers from China and Hong Kong reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – European health officials are seeing a continued rise in multiple antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, a pattern they say is likely fueled by misuse of the drugs, according to new data.

Antiviral-resistant H1N1 virus in Australia didn't spread farAn oseltamivir-resistant 2009 H1N1 virus that spread in one Australian community in 2011 apparently did not escape to a nearby large city, according to a report published in Eurosurveillance yesterday. Researchers previously reported the community spread of a resistant 2009 H1N1 virus in the Newcastle, Australia, area from June through August of 2011, the report notes.

(CIDRAP News) – A detailed genetic analysis of an oseltamivir-resistant 2009 H1N1 virus responsible for a cluster of illnesses in Australia in 2011 found evidence that the viruses maintained their fitness when the resistance mutation was present, suggesting that widespread emergence of the strain may be more likely, according to the researchers.

(CIDRAP News) – Australian public health officials yesterday reported a cluster of oseltamivir (Tamiflu)-resistant 2009 H1N1 infections, one of the largest to date, centered in one region of New South Wales state.