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We need a backup drug to face bird flu epidemic, says professor
(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)RELIANCE on a single type of drug could leave Britain defenceless in the face of bird flu, a leading microbiologist warned last night.
Professor Hugh Pennington said that Tamiflu, the Government's sole weapon in the potential war on bird flu, needs a backup drug, Relenza.
Both are currently available to GPs treating common flu and Professor Pennington fears that the disease could become resistant to Tamiflu if it is used on its own.
His warning came as the deadly flu spread to the Turkish resort of Kusadsi, which is visited by tens of thousands of Britons each year.
Three people there are thought to have caught the virus, which has been detected in chickens in the area.
If the human form does spread to Britain, Professor Pennington fears that a singledrug treatment would become useless in a widespread epidemic.
Tamiflu will be given to sufferers in the months before a tailor-made vaccine is produced. Although the tablets don't cure the disease, they do reduce the severity of symptoms.
Last night, Professor Pennington, of Aberdeen University, described the drug as ' less than perfect.' However, using it would save money - a five-day course costs GBP16 while Relenza, taken for the same length of time, costs GBP25.
Prices are likely to drop with bulk ordering.
Professor Pennington's call follows growing concerns about the effectiveness of Tamiflu, compounded by the fact that a child who died in eastern Turkey last week had been treated with it.
Now there is confirmation that the disease has reached one of Turkey's most popular tourist destinations. Three people are being treated at Kusadasi, described by Thomas Cook as 'a cosmopolitan and lively resort.' The news has placed the Foreign Office under mounting pressure to warn tourists against visiting the country.
But while there have been 15 confirmed cases of bird flu, three deaths, and dozens of suspected cases in the country, diplomats are simply advising tourists to take 'sensible precautions during their visits'.
The Foreign Offfice stance is in stark contrast to that of Professor Colin Blakemore, one of Britain's leading scientists, who has advised tourists to steer clear of infected areas.
In the Turkish capital Ankara last night Prime Minister issued an astonishing statement claiming his country's bird flu crisis is under control.
Tayyip Erdogan even said it was 'out of the question' that the outbreak was dangerous.
But his announcement did little to quell growing alarm, verging on panic, among Turks.
Hospitals are besieged by people demanding anti-flu drugs and a cull of the country's millions of chickens, ducks and geese is under way.
So far this has done little to reassure European neighbours who fear the strain of killer avian flu, which has now been found in birds in 16 of Turkey's 81 provinces, will spread west.
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