Experimental drug to fight flu

RECENT research has shown that new compounds developed for preventing and treating the flue have shown promise in animal studies, and may require only one dose to be effective. The compounds, known collectively as multimeric zanamivir, are based on the existing flu drug relenza, or zanamivir, which the U.S. Food and Drug administration approved in 1999 for treating influenza A and B.

Researchers reported at the International Conference on Antiviral Research in Prague that a single dose of multimeric zanamivir successfully treated mice infected with human influenza A and B.