Until now doctors have been using the Tamiflu vaccine for treating the cases of human bird flu. The vaccine proved its efficiency but now it seems that the virus is getting resistant to it. This was the conclusion of researchers of Oxford University after two Vietnamese patients died even though they received the Tamiflu vaccine.

Until now in South East Asia, 70 people died of the H5N1 virus infection. It seems that the victims got into close contact with infected birds and so they were contaminated. Until now there is no reason to believe there can begin a global pandemic. The only ones who worry a bit are the scientists who know that viruses mutate quickly and can gain the possibility of transmitting themselves from human to human.

It seems that those two cases suspected of resistance to Tamiflu died because a low dose of Tamiflu was given to them for unknown reasons.

Scientists were not surprised to hear that a possible virus resistance to Tamiflu has set, as they know that bacterium, viruses and any parasite can mutate and become resistant to any treatment.

In case resistance to treatment and spreading from one person to another are associated in the virus, a global pandemic can start. But scientists are sure that the virus can not achieve so easily the ability of jumping form one person to another.

As resistance to Tamiflu is possible, researchers recommend using the vaccine only in appropriate cases, in order to avoid virus resistance installment. As there is not available another effective vaccine against bird flu, doctors can not combine more vaccines to make a new one like in the case of HIV resistance.

Researchers try to find out as many information as they can about the virus in order to be prepared for the moment when the virus will strike again.

Studies made on Tamiflu in Vietnam did not concluded yet whether Tamiflu is effective if administered up to five days after infection. Until now scientists knew that the vaccine was effective if it was administered within 48 hours after infection was made. Another thing the study concluded was that the higher levels of virus in the human organism, the worse were the symptoms in that patient.

The governments are supporting the researchers and they consider that a stockpile should be made of Tamiflu in order to be prepared for a possible pandemic. They also disagree with the fact that the population wants to make a private stockpile of the vaccine as this could only lead to a misusage of the vaccine, leading to a virus resistance for the vaccine.