Tamiflu fears

[Guest Guest]

Not enough to worry about??

 

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Tamiflu Cited in 2 Teen Deaths, Report Says

 

Updated: 09:35 PM EST

AOL NEWS

 

TOKYO (Nov. 12) - Two teenage boys who took the antiviral drug Tamiflu exhibited abnormal behavior that lead to their deaths -- one jumped in front of an oncoming truck and the other apparently fell from a building, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday.

 

Following the first incident, which took place last year, the prescription drug in Japan began carrying a warning that says possible side effects include "abnormal behavior" and "hallucinations," the major Japanese newspaper said.

 

This is the first time that deaths have been linked to the drug.

 

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is aware of one of the cases. "As a result of abnormal behavior, it could lead to an accidental death," a ministry official said.

 

Rokuro Hama, the doctor who heads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance for Evidence-Based Healthcare, will present the cases at a meeting of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases on Saturday in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, the Mainichi said.

 

Hama, who runs the Osaka-based nonprofit group, was consulted by the boys' families, according to the newspaper.

 

The first case occurred in February last year when a 17-year-old male high school student in Gifu Prefecture was diagnosed with influenza and took a regular dose, one capsule, of Tamiflu at home at around noon, the newspaper said.

 

When no one else was there, the teen, wearing pajamas and barefoot, left the house, jumped over a fence around the house and ran in the snow, it said.

 

He then crossed over a guard rail near his home, jumped in front of a big truck and died at around 3:45 p.m., it said.

 

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese distributor of Tamiflu, produced by Swiss drug giant Roche, reported the incident in July that year to the health ministry as "a case where a causal link to the drug cannot be denied," the Mainichi said.

 

In the second case, a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture was diagnosed with flu on Feb. 5 this year and took one capsule at around 4 p.m.

 

He went to his bedroom around 5:30 p.m. About 30 minutes later, the boy was found lying barefoot in front of his condominium building, and later died, the newspaper said.

 

Police said his fingerprints were found on a handrail on the ninth floor of the building, and the boy is believed to have fallen after hanging onto the handrail, according to the Mainichi.

 

Neither of them had exhibited any psychological abnormalities before taking the drug, the newspaper said.

 

The government is planning to boost its stockpile of Tamiflu, generically known as oseltamivir phosphate, amid growing fears about a possible pandemic of a new type of influenza as bird flu deaths rise across Asia, health ministry sources said earlier.

 

Tamiflu is used to inhibit the growth of a flu virus in humans.

 

11/11/05 21:21 EST

 

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article....111212209990004

[gardnmom]

Since they are not even sure this is going to work against the Avian Flu, it may be a good thing we can't take it.

However our government officials will be taking it, what are they going to do, after taking it.........? What kind of hallucinations will they have?

[Guest Guest]

We went through all this with Prozac causing teens to murder. A few people have adverse reactions, and the media trys to whip the public into a frenzy.

[HapyGirl]

I remember my kids Dr telling me he didn't like to prescribe antivirals to kids because in children tend to hallucinate with them, so pehaps Tamilflu is not good for teenagers and children?

[Guest Guest]

I posted this just so we'd all know.

 

If worst comes to worst and Tamilflu is our only "best shot" at recovery, at least you *know* it's a risk and can watch them closely.

 

 

[shadypines]

Some adults, due to preexisting medical constitutions,

should not take Tamiflu. Please research Tamiflu before

you decide to take it.