Fewer Side Effects
However, according to nature.com Relenza is at least as effective as Tamiflu and has fewer side effects, including nausea and headaches, according to an article published 13 August (Lancet 366, 533?534; 2005). The report, based on data compiled from the companies' clinical trials and from subsequent studies, also says there is no evidence of resistance to Relenza, compared with resistance levels of up to 18% in those taking Tamiflu (Lancet 364, 759?765; 2004).
www.nature.com/news/2005/050829/pf/nm0905-909_pf.html.
More on Tamiflu resistance
Dr William Chui, an associate professor at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, has said that health authorities could no longer rely on Tamiflu. "There are now resistant H5N1 strains appearing and we can't totally rely on one drug," reports Reuters. Mr Chui also claimed that general viral resistance to Tamiflu is growing in Japan, where doctors routinely prescribe this drug to fight common human influenza.
A small Japanese independent study published last August already suggested that influenza viruses were becoming resistant to Tamiflu, and that the resistance may be more common than thought. In this study, 18 percent of the child patients had Tamiflu-resistant influenza, said lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of virology, microbiology, and immunology at the University of Tokyo.
www.mmrs.fema.gov/news/influenza/2005/oct/nflu2005-10-12d.aspx
