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Center for Disease Control
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Until a vaccine for swine flu is developed some months from now,
the best hope for treating the illness lies with anti-viral drugs.
But if you're healthy or you have only mild symptoms of the flu,
experts say you shouldn't take them.
If too many people ask their doctors for prescriptions,
supplies of anti-viral drugs could be depleted.
People who take the medications unnecessarily can suffer needless side effects.
Perhaps most important, the medications may lose their effectiveness if they are overused,
as quick-adapting viruses build up defenses.
Indeed, the H1N1 virus causing the current swine flu outbreak appears to be resistant
to two older anti-viral drugs, amantadine and rimantadine, according
to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That leaves two alternatives: oseltamivir, a pill sold under the brand name Tamiflu,
and zanamivir, an inhaled medication sold as Relenza.
The drugs work on the "N" (for neuraminidase) part of the H1N1 virus,
hampering the ability of virus particles to leave a cell and spread infection.
The federal government recommends that states have enough medication on hand
to treat 25 percent of the population.
(ChicagoTribune)
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