While Americans are grappling with flu because the current vaccine is only 36 percent effective in providing protection, regulators in Japan approved a new flu medication. The drug, Xofluza, can kill the flu virus in just one day.
Only one dose of Xofluza is needed, making it one of the best flu-fighting drug on the market. It even beat Roche's Tamiflu which is administered in doses over five days, The Wall Street Journal reported. Xolfuza killed the flu virus faster than any other available treatment, according to a late-stage trial.
No price yet
Consumers, however, have to wait until May before the medication is released on the Japanese market because the national insurer has not yet set a price for Xofluza. The license to sell the anti-flu drug to the overseas market, including the US, is held by Roche of Switzerland.
While Shionogi, the Japanese pharmaceutical based in Osaka that developed the anti-flu drug filed for approval in the US this year, it may likely take until 2019 before it will be available in the US which is now suffering from a flu crisis.
The 140-year-old Japanese pharmaceutical firm manufactured HIV and high cholesterol medication. But before it discovered Xofluza, it shelved almost 2,500 compounds. Isao Teshirogi, the chief executive of Shionogi, said that Xofluza works to prevent the flu virus from taking over human cellular machinery.
Medical experts explained that the flu virus is hard to fight because it hijacks human cells and tricks it into producing viral material rather than human proteins. Current medication, like Tamiflu, allows the virus to occupy cells and works instead to block new viral materials from escaping and infecting the other cells. While some viral material still manages to escape, the drug can slow the infection rate.
Clinical trials
The median time it took Xofluza to wipe out the flu virus was 24 hours, according to a late-stage trial on Japanese and American flu patients. While it took Xofluza and Tamiflu about the same amount of time to completely alleviate flu symptoms, Shionogi said that Xofluza offers faster relief. Because it kills the virus faster, the drug reduces the contagious effects of the virus and could prevent its rapid spread of infection to other people.
Before Shionogi and Roche file for regulatory approval in the US, the Japanese pharmaceutical is finishing a second late-stage trial. The approval of the Japanese regulator was based on results of Shionogi's first late-stage trial.
Flu epidemic
The current flu season is the worst flu epidemic to hit the US since the swine flu pandemic in 2009-2010. Since October, the total number of American children who died from the flu has gone up to 97. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that on Saturday, 13 kids were added to the tally for a total of 97 pediatric deaths. Around 75 percent of the children who died did not receive the vaccine.
Nevertheless, some healthy people are vulnerable because of how their immune system responds. The immune system of some people overreacted when they were infected with a flu strain that they have not been exposed previously and have not been vaccinated, Inquistr reported.
But it appears that the flu epidemic is now winding down based on the percentage of doctor visits due to flu infection. The past week, 7.5 percent of physician visits were for fever, cough, and other flu symptoms. This week, it number went down to 6.4 percent.
Daniel Jernigan, the head of CDC's Influenza Division, said he foresees the flu virus continuing to circulate until mid-April. But he confirmed that visits to doctors' clinics, emergency departments, and outpatient clinics are beginning to drop. Jernigan said that the peak of the flu season may actually be behind now.
The difficult flu season is due to the H3N2, the predominant flu strain that is an influenza A virus. It is the most deadly of the season flu strains and has caused more complications and deaths, especially among children, the seniors, and people with compromised immune systems.
At least three pharmaceutical giants are testing new compounds to treat influenza A. These are Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and a startup backed by Merck. According to Shionogi, Xofluza also works against influenza B strains that affect people.
According to Popular Science, the flu virus primarily attacks the respiratory tract. It hits the nose, throat, and the tubes that lead to the lungs. It explains why the symptoms include a runny nose, a cough with phlegm, and a sore throat.
While the other body organs are not the primary target of the virus, it still affects these body parts. The muscles ache, the head hurts, and the appetite is reduced. But these symptoms have less to do with the virus itself. Rather, it is the response of the body's immune system.
[researchpaper 리서치페이퍼=Vittorio Hernandez 기자]