Report Questions Need for Flu-Fighting Drugs

A new report questions the practice of governments stockpiling drugs to prepare for wide-scale flu outbreaks. The nonprofit Cochrane Collaboration released the report. Cochrane assembled a group of flu experts. They reviewed nearly 50 studies of the antiviral drugs oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza). These included internal reports from drug companies and the European Medicines Agency. The review concluded that these drugs can shorten flu symptoms in adults by about half a day. But the evidence does not show that they can help stop flu from spreading, Cochrane said. And they also didn’t keep people from developing pneumonia or other serious illness from flu. Since the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009, the United States has spent $1.3 billion on these medicines. Several other governments also have bought large supplies. An official of the U.S.