Children should not be given the antiviral drug Tamiflu for swine flu because its harms outweigh any benefits and the Government should review its policy on dealing with the pandemic, researchers have said.
By Rebecca Smith
Telegraph | Anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, reduce the length of time children are ill with flu by about one day and can cause vomiting as a common side effect, Oxford researchers found.
Vomiting is more dangerous in children than in adults as it can rapidly lead to dehydration and admission to hospital, they said.
Also the drugs had little or no effect on asthma flare-ups, ear infections or the likelihood of a child needing antibiotics meaning on balance the medicine does more harm than good in otherwise healthy children, the authors said.
It comes after research last week showed that Tamiflu reduced the length of flu in adults by just half a day.
Together the findings will question whether the Government's policy of stockpiling enough antiviral drugs for 80 per cent of the population was a waste of money. The exact cost of the stockpile has been kept secret for 'commercial reasons' but is expected to run to tens of millions of pounds.
Countries around the world have stockpiled around 50m doses of Tamiflu, made by Roche, for use during a flu pandemic.Tamiflu has also been linked to side effects such as insomnia and nightmares in children.
Dr Matthew Thompson, a GP and senior clinical scientist at Oxford University and Dr Carl Heneghan, a clinical lecturer at Oxford University, said the findings review of seven research studies should prompt the Department of Health to reconsider its policy.
The study, published online in the British Medical Journal, reviewed trials where children aged between one and 12 were either given Relenza or Tamiflu to treat seasonal flu or where one of their family had flu and they were given medicine to stop them becoming ill.
The researchers said although the studies were carried out on seasonal flu the findings are relevant to the current swine flu outbreak.
The drugs may still be of some benefit for children who have underlying conditions such as cystic fibrosis or whose immune system is compromised because they are being treated for leukaemia, for example, but there was not enough evidence to be conclusive about this, the researchers said.
Dr Thompson said the Government's current policy of giving Tamiflu to all symptomatic people was 'inappropriate'.
GPs are using their clinical judgement and providing anti-virals to severe cases of flu but the National Pandemic Flu Service is handing out the drugs to anyone who fits the criteria for having a flu-like illness. Data from the Health Protection Agency has suggested only one in four of those with symptoms will actually have swine flu.
The Flu Service handed out 150,000 doses of Tamiflu in its first week as cases peaked at around 110,000 in seven days.
Dr Thompson said: "Reserving these antiviral drugs for children who are more likely to have complications may be a more sensible strategy and would take some of the pressure off the current public demand for anti-virals."
Dr Heneghan warned that prescribing the drugs so widely will encourage flu to become resistant to the medicine.
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