Word: antiflu
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...looming concern over another winter wave of flu is all the more reason, says Lipsitch, to continue aggressive antiflu efforts, from washing your hands to covering your cough and getting vaccinated. In some states, including New York, there is now enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone over six months old, and not just those in priority groups. "We would expect that prior exposure to a similar strain in the form of a vaccine will provide some priming for future exposures, even if the virus changes a bit," says Lipsitch. In other words, the more people who are vaccinated this year...
...infectious-disease outbreak," Hong Kong University's Peiris says. Now the situation has greatly improved, he adds, with infection-control policies that minimize unnecessary movement of people in and out of hospitals. Currently, the government has 1,400 beds available for infectious-disease patients and 20 million doses of antiflu medication - including Tamiflu and Relenza - according to Food and Health Undersecretary Leung...
...Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first reported in December that 2% of influenza strains circulating in the 2007-08 season were resistant to the most popular antiflu remedy, oseltamivir, or Tamiflu. They warned that the prevalence of these strains would probably continue to increase, and indeed, early data from the current season suggest they have. Influenza is composed of three subtypes of virus, and last year 12% of one of those subtypes, known as H1, were resistant to oseltamivir. This year almost all of the H1 contingent, 98%, are resistant. (Read "Getting Closer...
Public health experts are still worried, however, that the current flu outbreak will lead to even greater use of the antiflu drug Tamiflu. The powerful treatment has been proven particularly effective against H5N1 and has become widely prescribed in Hong Kong - it is increasingly available illegally, without prescription, in pharmacies - so resistance to the drug is growing fast here. Doctors say the overuse of Tamiflu is creating a manifold risk, not only of weakening a weapon against a potential bird flu outbreak, but also of helping to spread a virulent strain of drug-resistant common flu in the wider population...
...dive under the covers and forget the world for a week. Be sure to alert your doctor, however, if you start having trouble breathing, develop a rattle in your chest or your fever persists. You may be developing pneumonia. Only your doctor can determine whether an antiflu drug is right for you. But remember, the most that Relenza or Tamiflu can do for you is cut your downtime by a day or two--and then only if you take it within 48 hours of the first symptoms...