Tamiflu Prevents Death in Mammals With Bird Flu

The antiviral drug Tamiflu prevented mammals infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus from dying, says a U.S. study presented this week at a conference in Singapore.

The findings may offer clues about the drug's optimum dosage and the duration of treatment needed to protect humans in the event of a pandemic, the Associated Press reported.

Researcher Elena Govorkova of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told the conference that ferrets were given Tamifu after being infected with the H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam. All of the animals survived.

Ferrets that were infected with H5N1 but did not receive Tamiflu died.

An abstract of the study said the results show the benefits of early treatment with the drug, and are in line with the limited research that's been published about the use of Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans, the AP reported.

Our fantastic birdflupanic widget has almost been downloaded 2000 times. Quite remarkable for something that does so little.

Just a little over a month left to 666. I read an article about mothers that are worried about giving birth on that day. Funny.

More than half of U.S. companies think there will be a global flu epidemic in the next two years.