ELDERLY swine flu victims should be sent to the back of the queue for anti-viral treatment when supplies of the drugs are limited, according to new research.

Scientists found anti-virals such as Tamiflu should be rationed in favour of younger adults.

The controversial strategy could be the most effective way to save lives and prevent illness, it was claimed.

The research focused on Italy, which was said to have only enough anti-virals to treat around 7m people, or 12% of the population.

Mathematical modelling showed that governments should stockpile enough drugs to treat at least a quarter of their populations, assuming moderate levels of infectivity.

If supplies were lower than this, it made sense to ration the anti-virals according to age-specific fatality rates.

When swine flu followed the pattern of the great 1918 pandemic and was most lethal to younger adults, treatment should not be targeted at the elderly, said the researchers.

Instead, it should be reserved for the young.

This is the reverse of the policy adopted during outbreaks of normal seasonal flu, when priority is given to those aged over-65.

So far, the flu strain causing the current pandemic does appear to be striking hardest at children and people of working age.