Japan reports 1st case of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 influenza

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TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo -
Japan's health ministry said Thursday it has detected a genetic mutation of the
new strain of influenza A virus resistant to Tamiflu in a patient infected with
the strain in May, the first such reported case in Japan.
The total number of infections has topped 1,500 in 44 of Japan's 47 prefectures
but no serious cases have so far been reported, according to the Ministry of
Health, Labor and Welfare.
The Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 flu virus was found in a woman in her 40s in
Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, according to the prefectural government. She
recovered after being given another anti-flu drug, Relenza, the ministry said.
The case ''is considered to pose no public health threat, given that no
infections have been confirmed around her,'' a ministry official said.
The regional government confirmed the genetic mutation on June 18, when no
other Tamiflu-resistant cases had yet reported worldwide, but did not report it
to the health ministry until July 1 and was advised to make it public the next
day, according to local officials.
''The virus was dead in the patient and we judged it unnecessary to report it
swiftly,'' Tetsuro Noda, an official of the Osaka Prefectural Institute of
Public Health said. He apologized for the delayed disclosure.
A similar case of a genetic mutation was reported in Denmark in late June. The
World Health Organization and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. of Switzerland, the
maker of Tamiflu, reported the Danish case June 29.
The woman had been given Tamiflu since May 18 as a preventive measure after she
was found to have had close contact with another confirmed infected patient the
previous day, according to the ministry and other sources.
She developed a slight fever on May 24, was confirmed infected with the new
influenza May 28 and recovered after being treated with Relenza, they said.
The local health institute that analyzed a viral specimen taken from her
detected the genetic mutation that does not respond to Tamiflu on June 18. No
signs of mutation resistant to Tamiflu were found in a viral sample taken from
the other patient with whom the woman was in close contact.
Meanwhile, the health ministry later in the day revised downward its estimates
of how many vaccines for the new flu virus can be prepared by the end of the
year after discovering that the seed virus required for production does not
multiply fast enough.
The ministry is now projecting that new-flu vaccines would be provided to
roughly 14 million to 17 million people, compared to its earlier estimate of
about 25 million. The ministry added it can secure vaccines that can cover 23
million to 30 million patients if it keeps the production lines running until
February.
==Kyodo