New Flu Medications Hit Market

Jan. 25 -- The flu fight is on, but sufferers have a couple of new ways to do battle this year, including a new drug that was recently approved for treating the flu in children.

Flu season runs from October through April, and it's a deadly time of year for some Americans. In the average season 20,000 people die from the flu and 110,000 Americans become sick enough to be hospitalized.

If you have not yet received a flu shot, it's not too late. Influenza — the medical name for the flu — got off to a sluggish start this year, and that means January is still a good time to get the flu vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Shorten the SicknessFor those who do encounter the flu this season, there are two new products on the market to treat, and in some cases prevent, the flu: zanamivir (sold as Relenza) and oseltamivir (sold as Tamiflu). Both were approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 1999.

ABCNEWS' Dr. Tim Johnson told Good Morning America that the drugs work if taken at the right time."First of all, you have to be sure you've got the flu and not a head cold, and second of all, you have to take it in the first day or two of the symptoms," said Dr. Johnson. "Then all it really does is shorten the course of the flu by one to two days."

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Technically known as neuraminidase inhibitors, Relenza and Tamiflu are antiviral drugs that stop the replication of the flu virus, and fend off flu A and flu B, Johnson said. Generally, they are administered as early as the patients feel symptoms, and doctors say the earlier the better.

Relenza is taken with an inhaler twice a day for five days, and Tamiflu is taken once a day for five days. Tamiflu was initially released in pill form, but in recent weeks the FDA approved it in a liquid form for children one year and older, and for elderly people who might have trouble swallowing.

The drugs are not a treatment, but evidence suggests they'll limit the duration of the symptoms by a few days, Johnson said. They cost about $60 each, but are usually reimbursable by insurance.