New Flu Treatment

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…only 30 to 50 percent effective. Researchers still need to test zanamivir on high-risk patients, elderly people, and those with asthma, he says. The participants in Monto's study averaged 29 years old. "These were [mostly] healthy young people," Glezen notes. Zanamivir might also be useful as an interim measure among people who are exposed to the virus before getting a flu shot. Daily doses may fend off the disease while the vaccine mounts its antibody response, Glezen says.