[Study of the effect of rimantadine on the course of mixed viral-bacterial infection in albino mice].

The results of the study of rimantadine effectiveness in a viral-bacterial infection in white mice caused by a mixture of influenza A2 virus (10 LD50) and hemolytic streptococcus group A (350 million bacteria). The drug showed no prophylactic or therapeutic effect in the mixed infection, whereas in influenza infection in the animals which served as a positive control rimantadine had marked antiviral activity (P less than 0.001). It is assumed that the lack of the drug effectiveness against the mixed infection is due to the formation in the animals of virus-microbe complexes which are conducive to an increase of infectious virus titers and virus resistance to various treatments.