New research carried out by researchers in Nepal has shown that a new and affordable drug, Gatifloxacin, may be more effective at treating typhoid fever than the drug currently recommended by the World Health Organisation. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, has implications for the treatment of typhoid particularly in areas where drug resistance is a major problem. The results are published today in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic.