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Tamiflu - Source: Reuters -
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Japan has confirmed its first case of a genetic mutation of the
new H1N1 influenza that shows resistance to Tamiflu, the main
antiviral flu drug, a health ministry official said.
The World Health Organisation has declared a global pandemic is
under way from the virus, known as swine flu, which has so far been
treatable with Tamiflu, made by Switzerland's Roche.
Takeshi Enami, an official at Japan's health ministry, said that
the patient's sensitivity to Tamiflu had yet to be tested.
The patient, who was confirmed in May with the H1N1 strain of the
flu in the Osaka prefecture of western Japan, has since recovered
and no other cases of the new flu have been confirmed around the
patient, Enami said.
He could not confirm the age or the sex of the patient.
The first case of H1N1 that did not respond to Tamiflu was a
patient in Denmark.
Earlier this week the WHO said that case, revealed by Roche and
Danish officials on Monday, was an isolated one and did not amplify
the severity of the virus.
Resistance to Tamiflu has been previously documented in the deadly
bird flu virus H5N1 and seasonal H1N1 flu.
