New Case of Swine Flu Resistant to Key Drug
By VOA News
30 June 2009
Scientists have found a case of the swine influenza A-H1N1 virus that is resistant to one of two key drugs being used to prevent it from spreading.
Danish officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday a Danish citizen contracted the Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu and has since recovered.
They say, so far, the new strain appears to be an isolated case. But influenza viruses mutate (change the genetic code and, as a result, their ability to spread) often and other experts say it was only a matter of time before the virus developed some resistance.
Officials with the company that makes Tamiflu, Swiss drug maker Roche, say about half a percent of all flu cases are resistant to the drug.
On Tuesday, Spain lost its first person to swine flu when an infected pregnant woman died just hours after her premature baby was rescued by a Cesarean section birth.
Health officials in the U.S. Pacific state of Hawaii are reporting the state's first swine flu-related death. The victim was a woman over 60 years old who died June 19 at a U.S. Army medical center. Officials say the woman had an underlying medical condition, and that the virus was a secondary cause of death.
The World Health Organization says more than 70,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed worldwide, including more than 300 deaths.
Kenya confirmed its first swine flu case Monday, while Britain confirmed a 9-year-old girl had become its third swine flu fatality.
Kenyan Public Health Minister Beth Mugo said the 20-year-old infected with the virus had traveled from Britain to Kenya last week as part of a group of students who are working in the western city of Kisumu.
Mugo says she expects Kenya to see more cases in the future, as the country is a major transport hub for the continent.
Kenya is the seventh African nation to report swine flu, after Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Morocco and South Africa.
The World Health Organization recently declared the virus to be an influenza pandemic - the first in more than 40 years.
In addition to Tamiflu, health officials around the world have been using a second drug, Relenza made by British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, to try to contain the pandemic.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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