New Arrival Could Put Flu in Its Place

The yearly battle against the flu claims at least 20,000 US lives each year, putting 225,000 people in the hospital and infecting up to 50 million in total. Antiviral drugs can tip the scales, but antiviral resistance threatens every bit of progress we’ve made against this fast-mutating group of pathogens. But a possible new medication could shift the balance back in our favor.

Antiviral Resistance and the Flu

According to the CDC, four antiviral medications are currently FDA-approved for fighting the flu: oseltamivir (Tamiflu), zanamivir (Relenza), peramivir (Rapivab) and baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza).

Adamantanes, a class of antivirals that only work against A-strain influenza viruses, are no longer approved for use in the United States due to antiviral resistance. This means that, due to a mutation, adamantanes have been rendered ineffective against flu viruses. And it also means that similar mutations could happen against any of the currently effective antiviral treatments still in circulation. And once the viruses have mutated to resist a medication, it’s likely out for good.

Breakthrough Flu Treatment: Fighting the Flu on Two Fronts

But the good news is this: a new antiviral drug, currently named EIDD-2801, could end antiviral resistance for good.

It works against the flu in two different ways. The first is pretty standard for an antiviral: it reduces viral load, easing symptoms and helping patients recover faster. But EIDD-2801 has an added trick up its sleeve: “lethal viral mutagenesis.” Put simply, this medication forces a mutation in the virus that makes it unable to form a resistance to the drug.

Trials have been limited to monkeys and ferrets so far, but if all continues to go well, we could see the tide finally turn, for good, in the war against the world’s most stubborn annual epidemic.

The flu might be little more than an uncomfortable inconvenience for many of us, but for high-risk groups, it can be a formidable foe—and a deadly one. The virus has rendered at least one medication useless, and without any interventions, it’s only a matter of time before it knocks out the others. Soon though, it could finally meet its match—and we may win this war after all.

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