Bird flu virus reported to resist Tamiflu
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More popular press stories on drug resistance in bird flu:
"An avian influenza virus isolated from an infected Vietnamese girl has been determined to be resistant to the drug oseltamivir, the compound better known by its trade name Tamiflu, and the drug officials hope will serve as the front line of defense for a feared influenza pandemic. [Science Blog - Science News Stories]"
The New England Journal of Medicine has a recent free article summarizing our current state of knowledge titled Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Infection in Humans:
"High-level antiviral resistance to oseltamivir results from the substitution of a single amino acid in N1 neuraminidase (His274Tyr). Such variants have been detected in up to 16 percent of children with human influenza A (H1N1) who have received oseltamivir. Not surprisingly, this resistant variant has been detected recently in several patients with influenza A (H5N1) who were treated with oseltamivir."
This is not to say, however, that we have no other neuraminidase inhibitor tricks up our sleeves.
The Cervical Cancer Vaccine
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The Well Timed Period offers some (well referenced) Q's and A's about the cervical cancer vaccine:
"Q: Why do we need to vaccinate the population at large?
Q: Why are the vaccine trials focused on preferentially vaccinating young women?
Q: Why are HPV 16 and 18 the target of Merck's vaccine?
Q: Are the researchers working on the HPV vaccine aware of potential barriers to its acceptance?
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She concludes:
" The HPV vaccine is an extremely significant development because it offers tremendous possibility in helping reduce the incidence of abnormal Pap smears, cervical cancer, and genital warts in the United States as well as worldwide. "
I Am A Propofologist
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I've decided to change my title from 'Anesthesiologist' to the more descriptive 'Propofologist.' Maybe it's because I've been doing lots of sedation for colonoscopies and esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGD) for which I use propofol/lidocaine only. When someone asks for anesthesia services, especially outside the operating room, what they're really asking for is someone who can give propofol to the point of loss of consciousness--hence the (new) term. Your heard it here first.
