Amantadine attack on influenza A

Abstract

t's time to start preparing for this year's flu season. The Centers for . Disease Control (CDC) say they are expecting two strains of type A Taiwan and Shanghai--and one strain of B--Yamagati. Both type A and type B virus produce a similar syndrome of fever, coryza, sore throat, myalgias, and nonproductive cough. Even a moderate epidemic may lead to more than 170,000 hospitalizations at a cost of $600 million dollars and 20,000 influenza-associated deaths in a single year(l). The CDC estimate 55,000 to 65,000 people died in last year's flu epidemic. Of these deaths, 90 percent were of people 65 and older or those with chronic health problems. Amantadine is one of the few drugs that can help once an outbreak of flu occurs. It is specific to the type A virus, but plays a dual role during an influenza A epidemic: It can prevent the flu syndrome in uninfected people, and it can lower, morbidity in patients already infected with the virus. To be effective, amantadine should be started within 24 to 48 hours of the first sign of flu and continued until 24 to 48 hours after the last sign disappears.