'Don't give your children Tamiflu'

Published on Monday 10 August 2009 22:07

CHILDREN should not be given antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu because the side-effects outweigh any benefits, researchers have warned.

Experts have cast doubt on the logic of giving the drugs to children suffering from swine flu, calling on the Department of Health to have an urgent rethink of its policy on the pandemic.

Their study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that Tamiflu caused vomiting in some children, which can lead to dehydration and complications, and the drug was found to have little or no effect on asthma flare-ups, ear infections or the likelihood of a youngster needing antibiotics.

Dr Carl Henegan, a GP and expert from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, said the current policy of giving Tamiflu for mild illness was an "inappropriate strategy".

He added: "The downside of the harms outweigh the one-day benefits."

The study comes over a week after other research found that children given Tamiflu as a precaution reported side-effects including nausea and nightmares.

The research shows Tamiflu and other antivirals such as Relenza rarely prevent complications in children with seasonal flu, yet carry side-effects. Although they did not test this in the current swine flu pandemic, the authors say these drugs are unlikely to help children who catch the H1N1 virus.

The government has stuck by its policy of offering them to anyone infected and the Department of Health said a "safety-first approach" of offering antivirals to everyone remains a sensible and responsible way forward, but has promised to keep the policy under review. Dr Henegan said the only benefit found in the study was that children got back to normal half a day to a day earlier if taking Tamiflu or Relenza.

He said his advice to GPs was "not to rely on Tamiflu as a treatment to reduce complications" or to think of it as a "magic bullet".

And he warned that widespread use of Tamiflu could result in the flu becoming resistant to the drug.

"What is a problem going forward – like with antibiotics – is you run into a resistance issue."

The doctors said children with mild symptoms should be treated in the same way as if they had any other mild flu – with drinks to cool high temperatures and rest. There was no need for children who were otherwise healthy to be taking Tamiflu or Relenza.

The experts said the studies had been publicly available to the government before it formulated its current strategy with regard to Tamiflu.

More than 300,000 courses of Tamiflu have been given out in Scotland and England so far.

The total of swine flu-related deaths in Scotland and England stands at 41. antivirals are the mainstay of treatment until a vaccine becomes available, expected in September.