CAIRO: The H1N1 cases that have appeared in Egypt are all responding to Tamiflu, Ministry of Health spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said, quelling concerns over the appearance of a strain resistant to the antiviral.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that it was informed by health officials in Denmark, Japan, Hong Kong and China of an H1N1 strain resistant to Tamiflu, the drug used to treat the virus.
“There are only three cases in the world that showed resistance to Tamiflu so it is very uncommon; they appear to be sporadic cases, Shahin said.
“Here in Egypt, all the cases that were treated with the drug responded perfectly fine to it.
He added that five cases in Egypt that were treated with regular antiviral drugs showed the same progress as cases treated with Tamiflu, which proves that H1N1 is relatively mild.
By press time Thursday, no new cases were reported in Egypt.
The total cases of H1N1 in Egypt reached 82, most of whom are people who have arrived from abroad, namely from Europe and the US.
The government announced earlier this month that it follows a counter measurement three-step plan: carefully examining every person entering the country, closely tracking those who arrive to make sure they are not carriers of the virus and raising awareness in Egypt through all possible media.
