H1N1 flu variant may be resistant to certain treatments

NEW YORK — A new strain of swine flu has emerged that appears somewhat resistant to flu drugs, according to published reports.

Reuters reported that scientists in Australia and Singapore had found a variant of the H1N1 flu that showed some resistance to Roche’s Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) and GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza (zanamivir), though drug maker BioCryst currently is developing a drug called peramivir, to which the strain was not resistant.

Reuters reported that while the mutation had been found in some seasonal and H5N1 bird flu cases, it had not been found in the H1N1 strain.

While the World Health Organization said the pandemic ended in August 2010, the strain, which appeared in the United States and Mexico in 2009, has not disappeared.