Tamiflu-resistant flu strain hits Salt Lake County

Salt Lake County, United States, January 21: The Salt Lake County Health Department reported that the flu strain known as Type A H1N1 is resistant to Tamiflu.

Majority of flu cases in the valley are resistant to the drug used to treats severe influenza.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed that the Tamiflu-resistant strain reached the United States this year and has reached a staggering number, nearly 99 percent of all flu swabs sent to the CDC this season have a Tamiflu-resistant strain. It first emerged several years ago in Europe and Asia.

The health department reported that the flu strain in wide circulation makes up 36 percent of the nation’s circulating flu. Last year, only 10 percent of the flu strains were drug resistant, stated Dagmar Vitek, medical director of the county Health Department.

“If you get type A and you take Tamiflu, you have a pretty high chance that it's not going to work,” she said.

Available at $10 at the health department clinics, the traditional flu shot is still considered effective in preventing the flu, feels the health department. The health officials continue to urge people to get their flu shot at the earliest, and reminds them that it is not too late yet. The flu had peaked in February last year with 187 hospitalized cases reported from Salt Lake County.

“All of our preliminary data indicates that this year's flu shot is a good match to the circulating influenza strains, including the one resistant to Tamiflu” said Dr. Dagmar Vitek, SLVHD medical director. “In light of the surprising prevalence of Type A H1N1 in Utah, the flu shot by far provides the best protection against getting influenza this season,” she added.

Each year, 36,000 Americans die of complications from the flu, and more than 200,000 are hospitalized.

Commonly referred to as “the flu”, influenza is a respiratory illness spread by a highly contagious virus that is dispersed via airborne droplets infecting the nose, throat, bronchial airways and lungs. It spreads through sneezing, spitting, talking, laughing and coughing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a yearly flu shot as the first and the foremost important step to safeguard yourself and your loved ones from this potentially dangerous disease. Those in high-risk categories include people aged 65 and above, children under two years, adults and children with chronic health conditions and three months pregnant women.

Tamiflu should not be considered as an alternative to the flu shot. The drug is prescribed to treat the flu and prevent the complications arising from the flu including pneumonia. However, doctors must determine the subtype of flu before prescribing Tamiflu to their patients, advised Vitek. There is also another antiviral available by the name of Relenza.

According to health department’s report dated Jan.10, there were relatively fewer or no cases of influenza-like illness in most of Utah. Quite to the contrary, the Weber-Morgan Health Department reported a high level of flu activity with 13 hospital cases registered so far.

The CDC feels it might be too early to predict this season's dominant strain as the testing of strain type and resistance has been quite low.