Alberta records case of drug-resistant H1N1

[Treyfish]

CHQR Newsroom
9/15/2009

Alberta Health Services is reporting Canada's second drug-resistant H1N1 case.
Dr. Gerry Predy, Alberta's senior medical officer of health, says the case is significant because the drug oseltamivir, or Tamiflu, is the medication that is most commonly used to treat influenza around the world.
He says any resistance to medication is important because it could possibly lead to further cases of resistant disease and potentially affect how a disease spreads.
Predy says an investigation into the case is underway to determine if the drug-resistant organism was present at the start of patient's illness or if it developed during treatment.
Other isolated cases of drug resistant H1N1 flu have been reported around the world, including an earlier case involving a 60-year-old man from Quebec who was given the drug when he was exposed to H1N1 because his son was ill.
Predy says the Alberta patient was not hospitalized and is recovering. http://www.am770chqr.com/News/Local/...spx?ID=1140102

[Pathfinder]

Re: Alberta records case of drug-resistant H1N1

Drug-resistant H1N1 case not 'alarming'
Few sufferers need treatment for fluJodie Sinnema, edmontonjournal.com:
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 6:47 AM

EDMONTON ? Alberta's first drug-resistant case of the H1N1 virus is concerning but not unexpected, and won't change how the province rolls out its vaccination campaign this fall.

"It's always a concern that there's resistance," said Dr. Gerry Predy, senior medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services. "One isolated case is probably not that significant, but it does then mean we have to do some investigation around this case, just to make sure that it is isolated."

The woman infected with H1N1 did not have to be hospitalized but was being treated with oseltamivir, also called Tamiflu, the most commonly used treatment for influenza in the world. Most people who get the H1N1 flu virus will only have a mild form of the illness and not need any medication, but people who have more severe cases, or who have other health problems that put them at risk for infection, are typically given Tamiflu to treat or prevent an infection.

A sample from the woman was sent to Winnipeg in August, and the lab confirmed in the last few days that her flu strain was drug-resistant. The woman is no longer sick, but an investigation is determining if any of her family or friends became sick with the mutated and resistant strain.

Investigators will also do tests to see if the drug-resistant organism was present at the start of the woman's illness or developed during treatment.

"I don't think it's, at this point, anything people should be alarmed about," Predy said.

But he said results from the investigation could refine guidelines on how people with severe illness should be treated. If someone with the flu is hospitalized and becomes resistant to the medicine, the infection could become more difficult to control and could remain infectious for a longer time, putting more people at risk, Predy said.

One other antiviral works against H1N1 and is available in Alberta, he said.

"However, it is important because oseltamivir is one of our main tools to deal with a pandemic," he said. "Because most people with H1N1 develop mild illness and they won't be treated with antivirals, it's really not significant to the majority of people getting infected with H1N1."

Typically, between 0.5 and four per cent of people treated for flu become drug-resistant, Predy said. With only one other drug-resistant case so far in Canada--that of a 60-year-old Quebec man--the resistance rate with this flu strain is at the lower end of that spectrum. Of the approximately 70 Alberta samples sent to Winnipeg for drug-resistance testing, only one out of the 50 received back has been positive.

Other isolated drug-resistant cases have been reported around the world and are being monitored by the World Health Organization.

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/health/Drug+related+H1N1+case+alarming/1995963/story.html