Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu appears inefficient in some people suffering from flu viruses this season, suggesting there’s a need for new therapies, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

“It’s really hard to use Tamiflu now in any significant way; there is so much resistance out there,” Andrew Pekosz, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, said.

 

Tamiflu was designed to treat and prevent influenza A and B. it is used in more than 60 countries, including the US, Japan and the European Union.

 

More than 98 percent of one of the influenza A viruses circulating this winter is now resistant to Tamiflu, up from less than 1 percent just two years ago, the study says. This finding makes flu prevention even more important, so getting vaccinated against the flu is the best thing you can do to protect yourself against complications of the illness.

 

Although the winter is almost over, public health authorities say the flu season has not peaked yet. Therefore, people should get the flu shot right away, as it offers protection within two weeks after the vaccination.

 

“Since late January or early February, we have definitely been seeing more cases ... not only of people who are getting a formal diagnosis of flu, but who are coming in with ... influenza-like illnesses,” said Dr. John M. Cmar, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.

 

Nine children have died from influenza this season, most apparently healthy before they got infected, the CDC reports.