Vaccination and Treatment for H5N1 in Humans
There currently is no commercially
available vaccine to protect humans against H5N1 virus that is being seen
in Asia, Europe,
and Africa. A vaccine specific to the virus strain causing the pandemic
cannot be produced until a new pandemic influenza virus emerges and is identified.
The U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS), through its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID), is addressing the problem in a number of ways. These include:
Studies done in laboratories
suggest that some of the prescription medicines approved in the United States for
human influenza viruses should work in treating avian influenza
infection in humans.
However, influenza viruses can become resistant to these drugs, so these medications
may not always work. Additional studies are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness
of these medicines.
The H5N1 virus that has caused
human illness and death in Asia is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, two
antiviral medications commonly used for influenza. Two other antiviral medications,
oseltamavir and zanamavir, would probably work to treat influenza caused by H5N1
virus, but additional studies still need to be done to demonstrate their effectiveness.
For more information about
H5N1 drug and vaccine development, see http://www.pandemicflu.gov/vaccine/index.html
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