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One of the most common drugs given for seasonal flu, Tamiflu, seems to having some neuropsychiatric effect on patients, especially children.

Tamiflu is one of the four drugs which are administered for seasonal flu in the US. Over the past one year that is from August 2005 to July 2006 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 103 cases of bizarre behavior after the consumption of the drug. Strange behavior included delirium, hallucinations and suicidal tendencies. Out of the 103 cases 95 were reported from Japan and mostly in Japanese children below the age of 17.

The agency is still to decipher if the strange behavior is caused due to the drug, the flu or a combination of both.

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Tamiflu to carry warning about abnormal behaviour

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. (FDA) is recommending that patients who take Tamiflu be closely monitored for signs of abnormal behaviour. ...The announcement is the latest update on the drug which is currently the first line of defence should a bird flu pandemic erupt, and comes as a result of 12 deaths and psychiatric symptoms among users in Japan.

Of the 103 reported new cases of delirium, suicidal behaviour and other mental problems between August 2005 and July 2006, three cases were fatal. ...Ninety five of the cases were apparently Japanese children treated with the drug.

The agency's review found that of the 12 deaths there was one suicide, four cases of sudden death and four cases of cardiac arrest. ...There were 32 reports of psychiatric "events" among children, including hallucinations and abnormal behaviour and in two cases a 12-year-old and 13-year-old jumped out of second-floor windows of their homes after taking the medication.

Tamiflu does not prevent flu (but) can reduce the length and severity of its symptoms.

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Flu drug carries new warning after delirium reports

The drug Tamiflu now carries a new warning following reports of delirium among some people, mostly in Japan, taking the medication to treat influenza, the manufacturer and US regulators announced. ...The notification to doctors from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates medicine, and the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche, which manufactures Tamiflu, also used to fight the deadly strain of bird flu, was reported on the FDA website Monday.

The antiviral drug's "precautions section" notes that "there have been postmarketing reports (mostly from Japan) of self-injury and delirium with the use of Tamiflu in patients with influenza," according to a copy posted on the FDA site. ..."The reports were primarily among pediatric patients. The relative contribution of the drug to these events is not known," the text says. ..."Patients with influenza should be closely monitored for signs of abnormal behavior throughout the treatment period," it adds.

There have been 103 cases, 95 of them in Japan, of delirium among people with the flu who took Tamiflu, especially among children and adolescents, the FDA said, adding that 60 percent of the patients were under 17. Suicide was reported in some cases. ...The "possible side effects" section of the drug's "patient information" insert now notes: "People with the flu, particularly children, may be at an increased risk of self-injury and confusion shortly after taking Tamiflu and should be closely monitored for signs of unusual behavior."

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19/11/05: US clears bird flu drug Tamiflu

America's powerful medicines regulator has ruled there is no evidence of a link between the bird flu drug Tamiflu and the deaths of 12 children in Japan.

A Food and Drug Administration panel found no "causal link" between the deaths over the past 13 months and the drug, which is widely distributed.

Swiss manufacturer Roche welcomed the ruling, saying: "The positive role of Tamiflu remains unchanged."



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