It's Official - UK Government Rejects Expert Panel's Advice on Tamiflu

From the BBC News Website.

The World Health Organization has said healthy patients who catch swine flu do not need to be treated with Tamiflu.

Antiviral drugs should be used in patients who are severely ill or those in high-risk groups including the under fives and pregnant women, it said.

This advice comes MONTHS into this pandemic. What a farce!

Ah, but always having the best interests of the populatin at heart:

The cost of the drug and the potential for resistance were taken into account by the expert panel.

But the UK government said it was taking a "safety first" approach by offering antivirals to everyone.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said they would keep the policy under review.

I cannot understand this approach at all.

They know that this virus will most likely come back in a stronger, mutated form in the Autumn/Winter. At the moment, according to the same article:

"We now know it's no more severe than seasonal flu for which we don't make Tamiflu available for healthy members of the general population.

So lets just hand it out to everyone, and when we really need the Tamiflu to be effective (ie in flu season), it will not be because of this stupid 'safety first approach'.

One word, IDIOTS.

like you said if the virus comes back in autumnand mutated in a new strain then what the hell is tamiflu going to do? Absolutely nothing because as least as I understand why the common cold and flu cant be cured is because they do mutate. Thats why people are always treated with the previous years virus.

Like most things, the more you know, the less you know; and the muddier it gets.

Taking anti-virals unnecessarily increases the chance of more virulent strains developing; however, serious cases of swine flu have appeared in a significant percentage of previously healthy people. So what to do?

Does each and every case have to be treated as a unique one? That goes against the Brits special program.

I think people are getting confused over ant-viral medication taken after the fact and the shots which try and prevent you getting it before the fact.

Would just allowing people to "weather out" their illness not increase the chances of mixing the old deadlier flu with the new easily spread one where some people get both strains going at once?

I don't think we can jump to any conclusions here. Its still a big confusing mess. I guess the issue comes with whether or not people can make up their own minds or will something be forced?