ZURICH/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Scientists have established the first case of the new H1N1 influenza strain showing resistance to Tamiflu, the main antiviral flu drug, Danish officials and the manufacturer said Monday.
It was expected that the strain would at some point show resistance to Tamiflu, Denmark's State Serum Institute said. The patient was now well and no further infection with the resistant virus had been detected.
"It does not constitute a risk to public health and does not cause changes to the recommendations for the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu)," the institute said in a statement.
The World Health Organization declared an influenza pandemic earlier this month and advised governments to prepare for a long-term battle against an unstoppable new flu virus. The WHO had no immediate comment on the case of Tamiflu resistance.
The United Nations agency has raised its pandemic flu alert to its highest alert level of 6, indicating the first influenza pandemic since 1968 is underway.
Flu viruses mutate regularly and can develop resistance to drugs at any time. The seasonal strain of H1N1 is a distant cousin of the swine flu and was widely resistant to Tamiflu this year.
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