Experts call for tests on use of flu drugs in pandemic

Report says there is a lack of good data on how well Tamiflu works in the community, after missed opportunity during swine flu outbreak

New trials are urgently needed to establish whether the anti-flu drug Tamiflu would help save lives in a pandemic, experts have said.

Flu pandemics are highly dangerous, with the potential to kill millions around the world. Each winter in the UK, hundreds die of flu. Yet the drugs available to treat people, of which the best known and most widely used is Tamiflu, appear to have only a modest effect and have only been tested on seasonal flu, according to a report by the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Wellcome Trust.