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Biotech / Medical : SARS and Avian Flu -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (2952)	10/27/2005 3:10:58 AM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4232

It amusing to read some of the misinformation in the Newsweek article, particularly this passage: << If a healthy person has taken Tamiflu over a period of time, and then becomes infected with influenza, there’s a better than 10 percent chance of the virus becoming resistant to the antiviral. If the person is later exposed to avian influenza, resulting in genetic mutation, the result could be an especially malevolent flu virus resistant to Tamiflu. >> This is utterly false. A virus cannot magically become a drug-resistant variant, simply because you had been taking an antiviral drug before you were infected, even if you had been taking the antiviral drug for years. Some people falsely believe that your body somehow becomes immune to an antiviral, yet this is false. Only the virus can become resistant. This requires that the virus and drug both occupy your body at the same time. Yet this is exactly what the drug is designed to be be used for. Ideally you take the Tamiflu or other antiviral drug as soon as you are infected and for several days following. Taking the drug for days or years before you are infected is completely wasted, yet it can in no way make the drug ineffective if you do finally become infected with the virus. .