Britain: Dozens fall victim to side effects of swine flu drug

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10586864


The agency that licenses medicines in Britain has received 150 reports of suspected adverse reactions to the Tamiflu treatment for swine flu.

-snip-

They include "mild allergic and gastrointestinal events", such as diarrhoea and vomiting. There were five reports involving nine suspected adverse reactions to Relenza, the rival drug to Tamiflu which is taken by inhalation and is less widely used.

-snip-

The Government estimated there were 100,000 new cases of swine flu last week.

The commonest side effects of Tamiflu are diarrhoea, nausea, stomach pain and vomiting. Reports from Japan, where Tamiflu has been widely used against seasonal flu, has linked the drug in rare instances with unusual neurological and psychiatric disturbances in children.
-snip-
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and

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6734056.ece?print=yes&randnum=1249003601469


More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests.

An estimated 150,000 people with flu symptoms were prescribed the drug through a new hotline and website last week, according to figures revealed yesterday.

Studies of children attending three schools in London and one in the South West showed that 51-53 per cent had one or more side-effects from the medication, which is offered to everyone in England with swine flu symptoms.

-snip-

Health officials in Japan have recommended against prescribing Tamiflu to teenagers over fears it causes a rise in “neuropsychiatric events”. The researchers said that clinical trials had shown that about 20 per cent of adults reported side-effects of either nausea or vomiting after taking Tamiflu.
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just so you know

Buy a drug from Dracula and then you're surprised that nightmares follow?

and flu shots can save lives, by the way.

and thought of flu shots

Prevention is better than treatment, so let's hope they *do* come up with an effective vaccine!

Oh and I guess small pox shots are also a bad idea.

:banghead:

Dr. Orly Taintz is an anti-vax nutter too, but this thread will show that nuttery is not a corner held exclusively by the crazy right wing.

:eyes:

:eyes:

the issue is how to balance out the side effects of the treatment against the side effects of the FLU.

It is certainly not a good idea for *everyone* with the flu to take Tamiflu, both because of the side effects, and because of the risk of the virus developing resistance. But for people at serious risk of flu complications, Tamiflu may be a life-saver.

The fact that a drug has side effects doesn't make it part of some evil conspiracy. It just makes it necesssary to decide which is the lesser of the evils in a given case. As with so many things in life.

Apologies for the confusion,

Damn you Monsanto!

have side effects. ALL OF THEM.

It is a cost benefit analysis, whether it is worth it.

In fact, all meds can kill you.

Our pharmacology instructor put it this way... every time you give a patient a medication, any medication, you are giving them potentially a poison that can kill them.

Chew on that.

Yes, even tylenol can kill, hell it is the most common cause of lethal liver damage in the ER setting with attempted suicides. So does that mean we should get rid of it?

:hi:

it's intended to treat?

reason being many meds change the flora in the GI tract... why do you think you are told to eat yogurt when you get a prescription for antibiotics? (and this is NOT an antibiotic by the way, but I suspect has similar effects on the GI Flora)

:sarcasm: and skip antibiotics for bacterial infection as they can also cause adverse reactions

I hope I don't have to choose. YIKES!

He went from having a 102 temp, shaking chills, sore throat and cough to zero temp, and only mild muscle aches and fatigue in under 36 hours. It kicked butt.

:rofl:

I knew what you meant :evilgrin:

I needed that laugh. Thanks!

and the average course of the flu is not 75 hours, but a full week, at LEAST

always been a bit worn out after the 48 hours or so of flu symptoms, but the symptoms have never lasted more than two days that I can remember.. . . a totally crappy two days and perhaps another 3 to recover from the dehydration, the lack of sleep, etc.

:-)

with the first three with a fever. He was sick as a dog and it was like night and day. In the thirty years I have lived with him I have never seen him turn around so quickly.

to days instead of weeks.

drug. Unreccomend. Wish I could double unrec for "fall victim." What a bunch of hysterical shit.