Tamiflu is an antiviral agent that targets the influenza virus and stops it from replicating and infecting new cells, thus shortening the duration of an infection. Co-developed with Gilead Sciences, Tamiflu is a systemic treatment for influenza, designed to reach all key sites of infection in the body, including the upper and lower respiratory tracts. The medication, which belongs to a new class of drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors, targets one of the two major surface structures on the influenza virus, the neuraminidase protein. The receptor site on this protein is virtually identical in all common strains of influenza. If neuraminidase is inhibited, the virus is unable to spread and infect other cells.
Influenza is a contagious viral infection of the upper and lower respiratory tracts.
It is considerably more serious than a cold and produces symptoms affecting the entire body. During the winter months influenza occurs in explosive outbreaks lasting six to eight weeks. The illness, which is heralded by the sudden onset of symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and generalised weakness, headache, sore throat and dry cough, can progress to respiratory complications such as sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and otitis media. It can also lead to myocarditis and encephalitis. In the United States, Europe and Japan, over 100 million people catch the flu each year.