Manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals, Tamiflu is one of the leading antiviral drugs for prevention and cure of influenza. The medicine is formulated in keeping with the FDA guidelines and is deemed safe for infants and pregnant women.
Knowing the danger
The viruses that cause influenzain mammals and birds belong to the group orthomyxoviridae, an RNA virus family. There are 3 virus-types of flu type 'A', type 'B' and type 'C'. The type 'A' virus is the most deadly of all, causing pandemics many times before, affecting human population and birds alike. Subtypes of influenza 'A' include H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2, out of which the H1N1 variety is clinically tested to be the most threatening to humans. The classification is made on the basis of 2 surface proteins hemagglutinin (H) and neuramidase (N). So H1N1, for example, means the virus contains hemagglutinin variation 1 and neuramidase variation 1.
Type 'B' and type 'C' variants are not so dangerous and they do not contain viruses that have antigenic features. So humans are usually able grow immune to these two types very early.
How is flu caused?
The highly pathogenic flu viruses are mutable in nature. As a result of this, they keep changing genetically, giving very little chance for drugs to act effectively. Once infected, the viruses replicate in living cells through the process of viral binding.
How does Tamiflu work?
Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals, is a potent prescription drug for prevention and cure of influenza. It contains oseltamivir as its active ingredient. The medicine has been proven effective for treating human flu, bird flu and swine flu. Available in strengths of 75mg, the drug prevents flu by working on the base of the flu virus, preventing it from replicating. If administered for flu prevention, Tamiflu oseltamivir kills the viruses altogether with the help of body proteins. Go through the following points to know about its usage:
- Should be taken within 48 hours from the outbreak of symptoms
- The entire course must be completed
- For treatment, the prescribed dose is two 75mg capsules every day for 5 days; for prevention, a single capsule daily for minimum of 10 days
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