Japan Just Approved a Drug That Promises to Kill Flu in Only 24 Hours

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It has been a very scary flu season this year as some people, young and old, have lost their lives to the virus.

Japan has recently given the green light to a drug called Xofluza that promises to kill the flu virus in 24 hours.

Officials in Japan approved the single dose drug, which is manufactured by Shionogi of Japan, on Friday according to the Wall Street Journal.

In a clinical trial, results revealed that both Japanese and American patients who took the drug had the flue virus disappear on average in 24 hours.

Xofluza inhibits an enzyme the flu virus needs to replicate.

The drug wont be available until May at least in Japan and according to the Journal, it won’t be available
in the U.S. until 2019.

According to infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., “FDA approval is a lengthy process. We often find that drugs are approved in other countries before they’re approved in the U.S.”