India: Rajasthan: Docs go for higher dose as flu H1N1pdm 2009 virus resists drug

Jaipur: As swine flu claimed two more lives in Rajasthan on Monday, doctors in premier hospitals of Jaipur were grappling with a concern over the virus’s increased resistance to Tamiflu, the drug which is being prescribed to patients as a cure.

Doctors at government and private hospitals admitted to slow recuperation of flu patients despite being administered higher dosage of Tamiflu. In 2009 when the deadly virus H1N1 swine flu spread its fangs in state (198 people had lost their lives then), doctors were prescribing 75 mg dose of Tamiflu. This year, doctors at several hospitals have started prescribing an increased dose of 150 mg, but they are not getting the ‘desired results’ on patients affected by the virus.

A doctor with the SMS Hospital said on condition of anonymity, “We are prescribing a dose of 150 mg Tamiflu to patients, but the results are not very encouraging. The medicine is not as efficient as it used to be in 2009.” It is quite likely that the H1N1 flu has mutated and has grown resistant to the medicine, he added. Dr Pankaj Anand, consultant critical care. We are prescribing a dose of 150 mg of Tamiflu to patients, but the results are not very encouraging. The medicine is not as effective as it was in 2009 when we managed to heal flu patients with a dose of just 75 mg."

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/RAJ-JPR-rajasthan-docs-go-for-higher-dose-as-flu-virus-resists-drug-4184549-NOR.html