June 13, 2024 – The CDC has identified two human cases of influenza which might be immune to essentially the most commonly used antiviral flu drug, brand name Tamiflu.
Laboratory tests showed that two flu virus samples from the United States contained two serious mutations that got here from essentially the most common variant of seasonal flu called influenza A (H1N1).
Seasonal influenza viruses are different from the bird flu viruses which have recently made headlines as a result of their presence in cattle and humans.
The Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 virus has two mutations called I223V and S247N. The cases within the United States were identified through the CDC's annual evaluation of American and international flu samples.
A complete of 101 samples were identified because the “double mutant” version of H1N1 and got here from a complete of 15 countries on five continents. The earliest sample was collected in Canada in May 2023 and essentially the most recent samples were collected in Europe in January and February 2024. The Netherlands had essentially the most samples of the double mutant flu virus, with 30 samples.
The mutated version of the virus was not immune to other, less used antiviral drugs, the report within the CDC Journal Emerging infectious diseasesThe dual mutated type of the flu virus was first reported Earlier this yr, scientists published the journal The Lancet Microbewho examined flu samples collected from Hong Kong in October 2023.
Antiviral flu medications can reduce the severity of the flu and the length of symptoms. Some studies have shown a link between taking these medications and a lower risk of death for adults hospitalized for the flu. The medications work best if a sick person starts taking them inside one to 2 days of symptoms starting.
Since October 2023, there have been an estimated 35 million cases of flu within the United States, leading to 390,000 hospitalizations and 24,000 deaths, in keeping with the CDC's weekly study. Flu View Publication. Among flu samples tested by public health laboratories within the United States through the last flu season, 76% were influenza A, the remaining were influenza B.
In hospitalized adults, COVID-19 stays barely more deadly than the flu, in keeping with a analysis recently published in Journal of the American Medical Association. The 30-day death rate amongst adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2023-2024 was 5.7%, compared with 4.7% amongst adults hospitalized with influenza through the same period. The authors found that there have been twice as many hospitalizations for COVID-19 as for influenza.