Monday, August 17, 2009

SWINE FLU TREATMENT IN ADULTS



As with the regular seasonal flu, antiviral flu medications, including Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir), are available to prevent and treat the swine flu.
What makes this confusing is that there were many reports this past flu season that the seasonal flu virus was resistant to Tamiflu. In fact, it was recommended that doctors go back to using older medicines like Symmetrel (amantadine) or Flumadine (rimantadine) with Tamiflu or Relenza instead, if someone had a seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus infection.
In contrast, the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus seems to be resistant to older medications, but still sensitive to Tamiflu and Relenza.
As with seasonal flu, Tamiflu and Relenza should be started within 48 hours of your child developing swine flu symptoms. According to the CDC, these flu medications can even be started after 48 hours though, especially if a patient is hospitalized or is at high risk to develop complications from the flu.
SOURCE:http://pediatrics.about.com/od/swineflu/a/409_treatments.htm

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