New anti-viral drugs to be procured

Mumbai: A sudden rise in the number of swine flu deaths has provoked the state government to approach the Union government to procure novel anti-viral drugs ‘Peramivir’ and ‘Baloxavir’ to reduce the casualty counts since the state has been in need of stock, said health officials.

Currently, Oseltamivir, popularly known as Tamiflu or Fluvir, is the only drug of choice to treat the contagion which is high in demand, it’s mostly available at state and civic–run hospitals as well as health posts, along with official druggist and chemists.

According to a source, “The state government’s technical committee, in a meeting held recently, has advised the use of the new drugs for patients who are battling virus-induced complications and not responding to Oseltamivir.”