Tamiflu to the Rescue?

Influenza infection attracts pneumonia bacteria

WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- An FDA-approved flu-fighting medicine may hold the key to keeping pneumonia from developing after you get the flu.

Researchers have found that lung cells infected with the influenza A virus are more likely than uninfected cells to bind with bacteria that cause pneumonia. And that's where Tamiflu® comes in.

That binding between virus and bacteria can be reversed with antiviral medicine that attacks the influenza virus at the cellular level, says a new study from the University of Kansas Medical Center presented today at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Salt Lake City.

The researchers examined the relationship between the binding of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria to a lung epithelial cell line -- the cells that line the respiratory system -- with and without influenza A infection.

After 24, 48, or 72 hours of viral infection, the amount of bacteria bound to the influenza-infected cells was four to 10 times higher than what was found on uninfected cells. But when the flu virus was treated with Tamiflu, the increased binding was reversed.

That means Tamiflu may be able to help prevent post-influenza complications such as pneumonia, the researchers say. They add that this study only looked at influenza A, and more research needs to be done on influenza B.

Influenza A and influenza B are both part of the viruses that come from China. Influenza A is best known as the Hong Kong flu.

More information.

Here is the information on Tamiflu from the FDA.

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