So far, the bird flus that have been popping up in Southeast Asia have remained bird-centric, with only a few human cases. But if the bird flus ever combine with a human influenza virus that leaps easily from person to person, we could face a terror to rival the 1918 flu pandemic. Part of the strategy for avoiding the mortality of 1918 is using antiflu drugs known as neuraminidase inhibitors, which stop the virus from moving on to infect more cells. In a new study, Japanese researchers raise the alarming prospect of widespread resistance to oseltamivir, a commonly used member of that class of drugs.

What the researchers wanted to know: How common are influenza strains that are resistant to oseltamivir?

What they did: The researchers got samples of nose or throat goo from 50 children ages 2 months to 15 years who visited four hospitals in the winters of 2002 and 2003. The children were all treated with oseltamivir. The researchers isolated influenza viruses from the specimens and tested them to see if they were resistant to the drug.

What they found: About a fifth of the children had drug-resistant influenza viruses develop during treatment.

What the study means to you: We may not be as prepared for an influenza pandemic as we´d hoped.

Caveats: Drug resistance probably develops more easily in children with influenza than in adults, but that´s not much of a comfort.

Find out more: This article on the 1918 flu pandemic includes audio interviews with survivors:

http://chnm.gmu.edu/features/voices/ww1flu/listeningtowwith.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention´s page on influenza: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Read the article: Kiso, M., et al. "Resistant Influenza A Viruses in Children Treated With Oseltamivir: Descriptive Study." The Lancet. Aug. 28, 2004, Vol. 364, pp. 759-765.

Abstract online: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15337401