United States: Two new strains of H1N1 influenza, referred to as the ”dual mutants,” have infected at least two US patients, the CDC said on Wednesday; genetic alterations that may lower the efficiency of the primary flu antiviral relied on by hospitals.
More about the news
Researchers conducted a sequence analysis of the new H1N1 flu viruses with these two potentially fatal mutations, known as I223V and S247N, referring to alterations to the two significant viral surface glycoproteins, this week in the agency’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
This comes after scientists from Hong Kong were the first to test the mutations. In experiments their labs conducted and published in March, the two mutations were demonstrated to increase H1N1’s resistance to the flu treatment oseltamivir, sold branded under Tamiflu by Roche, as CBS reported.
The impact of the mutations on the efficacy of Oseltamivir is still questionable in the real world. These laboratory tests revealed that the aforementioned mutated viruses were between 10 and 16-fold less sensitive to the said antiviral, which marked a lower decrease than some earlier discouraging mutations.
What has the CDC stated?
According to CDC spokesperson, “These mutated viruses retained sensitivity to other anti-influenza medications, including a newer one, baloxavir marboxil. There are no immediate implications to change decisions for clinical care,” as CBS News reported.
Dual mutant’s presence on different continents
Despite the “rapid spread of dual mutants to countries on different continents,” as CDC reported regarding the novel dual mutant flu variants which discovered the mutations popped up, however, in a rarity for now.
Moreover, the author said, “However, those data may not necessarily represent the actual proportion of what was in circulation because of differences in surveillance and sequencing strategies in each country.”
The recent two cases from the US were reported by labs at the Connecticut Department of Health and University of Michigan this past fall and winter.
According to a CDC spokesperson, “It is unknown how widely these mutated viruses will circulate in the upcoming season. It is important to continue monitoring the spread of these viruses and the evolution of these viruses,” as CBS reported.
What are the commonly prescribed treatment?
For a long time, the CDC has been keeping an eye on the possible mutations to the flu virus that could show resistance to Oseltamivir.
Oseltamivir is currently very famous for being prescribed on a very large scale for treating the flu, as the CDC said.
According to a study conducted last year, the drug consists of almost 99.8 percent of flu antivirals as prescribed to kids.
The CDC recommends that physicians prescribe flu antivirals immediately to all flu patients with underlying medical issues or those who are receiving hospital care.
Doctors have also had to administer this Oseltamivir to humans that have been infected with the emerging H5N1 bird flu in dairy farms this year.
That is why this is not the first time that health authorities have monitored the appearance of a possible threat to the efficiency of influenza therapies.
Over the years, Oseltamivir emerged as the most commonly prescribed antiviral drug; before it was replaced by a competing H1N1 strain behind the swine flu pandemic that hit the world in 2009, Italian and European health authorities saw oscillations of the H1N1 strain resisting Oseltamivir in 2007 and 2008 as did Japanese healthcare officials.