Common cold to H1N1, super lozenge to fix all

London: In a breakthrough, Australian scientists have developed a drug that prepares the immune system to effectively fight all cold and flu infections, including the swine flu virus.
    The Veldona lozenge, which tastes like a sweet and dissolves in the mouth, prepares the immune system to attack every cold and flu virus. Chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Manfred Beilharz, who tested the drug, said, “This is the golden fleece everyone has been looking for.’’
    The drug can be taken once a day before breakfast and will prevent everyday sniffles in otherwise healthy people and lifethreatening infections in the elderly. The lozenge contains tiny amounts of interferon alpha—a protective protein that the body naturally makes when attacked by a virus. When the lozenge dissolves in the mouth, the protein is released, tricking the immune system into thinking there is a virus in the body and getting it ready for a fight, Daily Mail reported. AGENCIES.

Super Chew
Sweet lozenge that dissolves in the mouth to be taken once a day before breakfast
Can help immune system fight every cold and flu bug
Could prevent lifethreatening infections in the elderly or those suffering from asthma, cystic fibrosis
Contains protein interferon alpha, which is produced by the body to fight infections. When lozenge releases the protein, the immune system is tricked into preparing the body to fight infections

MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH

Flu pill to be cheap, free of side effects
London: Explaining the functioning of the lozenge that could help fight all kinds of flus, chairman of the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Western Australia, Manfred Beilharz, said, “The outposts of the immune system say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a virus, let’s gear up and get ready for it before the infection spreads too far’.’’
    Beilharz, who has devoted 15 years to the research, said the drug had already been successfully tested on mice and a government-funded human trial was recently conducted in Western Australia and its results were expected within weeks.
    Half of the 200 adults taking part in the trial took the lozenge once a day before breakfast while the remaining took a dummy sweet, and all noted any cold or flu symptoms each week, including time off work. If the results are positive, the drug could be made available over-the-counter in the next two years. It would cost just around Rs 9 a pill.
    “This medicine is quite cheap to manufacture and very low dosage and doesn’t seem to have any sideeffects of any significance,’’ he said. Beilharz, however, does not expect the drug to completely ward off flu and cold. He believes, rather, that the symptoms would be greatly eased.
    “When the infection comes along, it still infects, but the immune system quashes it in a couple of days. So, you will experience some symptoms but they will be rather mild and you will go on as normal,’’ he said. AGENCIES