Researchers at Hokkaido University said Thursday they have found a combination of substances that is effective at combating swine flu.
The group led by professor Tadaaki Miyazaki of the university's Research Center for Zoonosis Control found that a combination of lactic acid bacteria and aureobasidium culture is more effective than the commonly used flu medication Tamiflu in increasing the survival rate and alleviating weight loss for mice infected with the A/H1N1 strain.
The find could lead to the development of new drugs for treating the new flu, which in Japan has claimed about 70 lives and left an estimated 10,000 people hospitalized.
The new combination is thought to enhance the body's natural ability to protect itself, whereas antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza are designed to curb the growth of the flu virus.
The team conducted animal tests on two groups of mice, both of which were infected with the same H1N1 strain, giving the new combination to one group and the Tamiflu agent to the other.
Miyazaki and his team are looking into why and how the mice's immune systems were enhanced and plan to release the results at an academic meeting next year.
Miyazaki told a news conference that antivirus agents and his group's approach to enhancing the human body's natural defenses will make a good one-two punch in the fight against viruses.
School closures caused mostly by the spread of the H1N1 influenza slightly decreased in the week through Saturday, with 15,656 educational institutions reporting partial or full closures, the health ministry said Wednesday.