Amantadine
"Amantadine: Helpful or Obsolete?"
Amantadine is an organic compound that is used both for an antiviral medication as well as an antiparkinsonian drug. In 1966 amantadine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an agent used against the Asian influenza in adults.
Amantadine is a highly controversial drug. While it has been used in the past to help treat Asian influenza, but it was also widely misused to try and prevent other strains of the influenza virus. In 205, many Chinese poultry farmers try to feed the drug to their birds in order to protect against avian influenza. Amantadine is only approved by the FDA to be used in humans, not any other species.
Because the drug was most widely used in 1966, the amantadine cocktail have very much decreased in effectiveness since then. During the 2005-06 flu season the United States' Center for Disease Control found normal doses of amantadine to be much less effective. It is very unlikely that this drug will be used in future flu seasons.
