Japanese doctors find swine flu variant that’s Tamiflu-resistant

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

TOKYO — A person infected with the new flu in Japan’s Osaka Prefecture has been found to have a variant of the new H1N1 Type-A strain that is resistant to major antiflu drug Tamiflu, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned late last week.

The Tamiflu-resistant strain of the new flu, also known as swine flu, was first reportedly detected in Denmark earlier in the week. But the Osaka case is the first domestic case of the Tamiflu-resistant strain to be found, the newspaper reported Friday.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, a person in Osaka Prefecture took Tamiflu in May in an effort to avoid being infected with the new flu but still contracted it. A doctor genetically tested the new flu virus taken from the person and found the virus had mutated into a Tamiflu-resistant form, the ministry said. The person has now recovered, according to the ministry.

It said there had been no reports that Tamiflu-resistant new flu had been detected in other people or that the drug-resistant virus was spreading.

Danish health authorities concluded that the Tamiflu-resistant strain poses no major public health risk and is continuing to use Tamiflu in the fight against the new flu.

The ministry also has no plan to change its policy of using Tamiflu.

Seasonal flu viruses also have developed Tamiflu resistance, doing so either naturally or through a mutation while in the body of a Tamiflu-prescribed person.

Experts say people can expect to make a full recovery from a Tamiflu-resistant virus infection within a few days even if the H1N1 type virus mutates during treatment, as apparently occurred in the domestic new-flu case.