tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Another flu season is here, which means another chance for viruses to mutate. Already, most influenza A viruses contain a mutation that confers resistance against one class of antiviral medications, and the bugs are steadily gaining resistance against another class. Scientists report in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters a series of experiments designed to develop new medications that could potentially fight off the resistant and sensitive types of influenza A.
For most people, the flu is a nuisance, causing aches and pains, as well as coughs and runny noses for a few weeks. But for the elderly and young children, the illness can be deadly. And in the most recent flu season, even some seemingly healthy adults died after being infected. Because the virus can mutate, it has built up resistance against some drugs that had been used to help fight the infection. Influenza A is responsible for most cases of the flu, and about 95 percent of influenza A viruses have a mutation called S31N in the channel protein AM2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antivirals called adamantanes target that protein, but are no longer recommended because the S31N mutation renders these drugs useless. The other FDA-approved class of antiviral medications includes oseltamivir. Although these drugs are still effective, resistance is growing with the rise of a mutation in a different viral protein. That's why Jun Wang and colleagues sought to develop a new medication that would work in both resistant strains and those that still respond to oseltamivir.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/acs-fmi102418.php
For most people, the flu is a nuisance, causing aches and pains, as well as coughs and runny noses for a few weeks. But for the elderly and young children, the illness can be deadly. And in the most recent flu season, even some seemingly healthy adults died after being infected. Because the virus can mutate, it has built up resistance against some drugs that had been used to help fight the infection. Influenza A is responsible for most cases of the flu, and about 95 percent of influenza A viruses have a mutation called S31N in the channel protein AM2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antivirals called adamantanes target that protein, but are no longer recommended because the S31N mutation renders these drugs useless. The other FDA-approved class of antiviral medications includes oseltamivir. Although these drugs are still effective, resistance is growing with the rise of a mutation in a different viral protein. That's why Jun Wang and colleagues sought to develop a new medication that would work in both resistant strains and those that still respond to oseltamivir.
...
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/acs-fmi102418.php