Investigation of the Biological Characteristics of Amantadine-Resistant Influenza A Virus.
Abstract
Since the first report of amantadine-resistant strains of influenza in 1981 there has been much speculation about the epidemiological impact of these strains should the use of amantadine and rimantadine become widespread during an influenza pandemic. To date, there have been only two reports of confirmed resistant strains that were isolated from patients with no drug treatment. All other resistant strains have been collected only after therapy with either rimantadine or amantadine. Because naturally-occurring resistant strains are not isolated more often in the absence of drug therapy, it has been suggested that the drug-resistant phenotype does not confer any type of selective or replicative advantage over the sensitive phenotype. As a corollary, the suggestion was made that those viruses with the susceptible phenotype may have a biological advantage over their resistant counterparts. This study was conducted to determine if one phenotype of influenza A virus has an advantage in replication over the other. To accomplish this, 30-hour growth curves were generated for one amantadine-sensitive and two resistant virus isolates. Evaluation of the experimental results included visual comparison and numerical analysis of the data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 18, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA326862
Entities
People
- Carol C. Walters
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology