It's the greatest piece of mismarketing and ignorance Whenever you hear that the use of Relenza (NA inhibitors) just marginally reduces the duration of the flu by a day or so. So why take it !!!
Technically this may be true ( even one or two days is important to a culture like the japanese as getting back to work is extremely important.)
The facts about Relenza have never reached GPs or the public.
I know for a fact that if you take Relenza early enough your symptoms are considerably reduced . They can still be there but you feel a hell of a lot better sooner.
In the event of a serious strain of flu this reducing of your symptoms could save your life as the viral shedding is reduced. So the Virus finds it difficult to replicate and spread in your body.
This limits secondary infections which are the main killer like Cytokines storms and pneumonia.
Relenza and NA Inhibitors that work are awesome.
They can save your life and at the very least make you feel a whole lot better quicker.
Why they arent prescribed more often is a mystery.
Note that just a few months ago the British changed there policy on dispensing NA inhibitors like relenza. NOW GPs are actively encouraged to precribe to NON RISK patents who have the flu.
Maybe the penny is starting to drop.
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