Tests run by the Centers for Disease Control confirm that four patients at Duke University Medical Center have strains of Tamiflu- (oseltamivir) resistant H1N1 flu. All four patients with the resistant strains had underlying conditions that compromised their immune systems, and were being treated in an isolated unit at the North Carolina hospital. These cases add to other confirmed cases of drug-resistant swine flu, including two reported in western North Carolina earlier this year, nine recently confirmed among swine flu patients in Wales. Duke physicians say that there is no broader cause for alarm at the moment, pointing to CDC data showing that the resistant strains manifest similar symptoms to the standard H1N1 virus. Additionally, they say, the resistant swine flu strain had been contained at the hospital with no infection among staff members treating the infected patients.
Still, Duke researchers are working in collaboration with the CDC to learn more about the drug-resistant strain and how to prevent is spread, adding to similar efforts around the globe. In the meantime, however, health officials emphasize the need for caution, but not overreaction, underscoring that thus far, all confirmed cases of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 have been susceptible to the antiviral medication Relenza (zanamivir).