UK's flu plans "must keep up" with latest evidence

The UK's Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences has warned that the government, in a joint study, is "not making the best use of independent scientific advice when making critical decisions."

Sir John Skehel, the report's author, said: "decisions are being made, as the UK prepares for a possible pandemic, that fail to take account of expert advice. For example, the decision to stockpile just one antiviral drug is a major concern. This needs to be reconsidered." Sir John explained that "new evidence" that the H5N1 strain of avian influenza can develop resistance to Swiss drug major Roche's Tamiflu (oseltamivir) meant that diversifying the UK's emergency antiviral stocks would be "the most effective management of a pandemic." The report says: "the government was right to order Tamiflu in early 2005. However, we are concerned that it is not updating its plans as the landscape of what we know about influenza changes."

Roche responded to the study, stating that there was "no new evidence" of Tamiflu-resistant bird flu emerging since a clinical study last year found a small number of cases of resistance (see page 20).