LOC15:31
12:31 GMT
LONDON, Nov 21 (KUNA) -- Tamiflu-resistant swine flu which has broken out
in Wales will become much more common as the virus mutates, a flu expert here
warned Saturday.
Three out of five patients diagnosed with the Tamiflu-resistant strain
remain in hospital today, after it was revealed they could be the world's
first cases of person-to-person transmission of the virus, the National Public
Health Service for Wales (NPHS) said.
Professor Nigel Dimmock, a virologist at the University of Warwick,
England, said: "This is just the beginning. You have got a lot of viruses and
if you use Tamiflu at the level they are using it you get resistance.
"However, they probably aren't resistant to Relenza, the other antiviral.
You need other mutations to make it resistant to Relenza.
"Also, the vaccine is coming on so people regard Tamiflu as a stop gap and
there's no need to panic".
He added it was unsurprising person-to-person transmissions had started.
He said: "This is the trouble with going into hospitals, where you can get
super bugs such as MRSA, C.diff, Norovirus and so on. You go in with something
and you come out with a virus, it's a well known problem".
Three of the five people on a unit for severe underlying health conditions
at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, appear to have acquired the
infection on the ward, the NPHS said yesterday.
Two of the five have recovered and have been discharged from hospital, one
is in critical care and two are being treated on the ward.
Professor Dimmock said the likelihood of the cases in Cardiff causing an
outbreak of the resistant strain depend on how well the virus has been
contained.
He said: "It depends how well the people in Cardiff have been able to
restrict the spread of the virus. US figures show that one in 80 are
diagnosed, meaning for every person that knows they are sick, there are 79
that do not know they have it.
"If it has affected more people and they don't know, it could spread".
The UK Government played down fears that the resistant strain could now
become widespread after the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed there had
previously been "no documented episodes of person-to-person transmission".
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Examples of Tamiflu resistance
are very rare, but when this does occur it has often been among these
especially vulnerable patients. In other words, because their immune systems
are compromised, it is more likely for resistant viruses to develop".
Last Thursday the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has reported 57
incidents of Tamiflu resistance worldwide, received four reports of possible
person-to-person transmission in a US hospital.(end)
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