The World Health Organization announced Feb. 1 that the current strains of influenza circulating in Canada and the United States are indicating "elevated resistance" to antiviral drug Tamiflu, severely complicating efforts to prepare for a possible pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Feb. 1 that anti-viral drug Oseltamivir, marketed as Tamiflu by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche and U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc., is starting to show signs of ineffectiveness against the influenza-A viruses, in particular the current H1N1 strain that is affecting North America. The resistance of influenza-A to Tamiflu was already reported in Europe during testing conducted in November and December 2007.