Emerging Infectious Diseases (Jul 2010)

Oseltamivir Resistance in Adult Oncology and Hematology Patients Infected with Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus, Australia

  • Adrian R. Tramontana,
  • Biju George,
  • Aeron C. Hurt,
  • Joseph S. Doyle,
  • Katherine Langan,
  • Alistair B. Reid,
  • Janet M. Harper,
  • Karin Thursky,
  • Leon J. Worth,
  • Dominic E Dwyer,
  • C. Orla Morrissey,
  • Paul D.R. Johnson,
  • Kirsty L. Buising,
  • Simon James Harrison,
  • John F. Seymour,
  • Patricia E. Ferguson,
  • Bin Wang,
  • Justin T. Denholm,
  • Allen C. Cheng,
  • Monica Slavin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1607.091691
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 7
pp. 1068 – 1075

Abstract

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We describe laboratory-confirmed influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in 17 hospitalized recipients of a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) (8 allogeneic) and in 15 patients with malignancy treated at 6 Australian tertiary centers during winter 2009. Ten (31.3%) patients were admitted to intensive care, and 9 of them were HSCT recipients. All recipients of allogeneic HSCT with infection 4 days of oseltamivir therapy. Three of these 4 patients were critically ill. Oseltamivir resistance in 4 (13.3%) of 30 patients who were administered oseltamivir highlights the need for ongoing surveillance of such resistance and further research on optimal antiviral therapy in the immunocompromised.

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