ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS such as Tamiflu are unlikely to prevent complications in children with influenza, research published by the British Medical Journal has found. However, anti-viral treatment does shorten the duration of illness by up to 1.5 days and may reduce the onward transmission of the virus.
The new research is based on an analysis of trials of the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza involving 1,766 children with seasonal influenza, many of whom had influenza A, similar to the H1N1 strain of swine flu.
Researchers from the department of primary healthcare at the University of Oxford found that a 10-day course of anti-virals given to children after they were exposed to the virus resulted in an 8 per cent decrease in flu transmission. This means that 13 children would need to be treated to prevent one additional case of influenza.
But in findings that may alter current Department of Health and HSE policy to use early treatment with Tamiflu in asthma patients who are on medication, the Oxford researchers concluded that using the drug had little or no effect on asthma flare-ups. Nor did anti-virals reduce secondary ear infections in children or the likelihood of them requiring antibiotic treatment. Children taking Tamiflu were also more likely to experience vomiting.
During flu epidemics, children are the main source of the spread of flu into households, the authors note. It has been shown that four in 10 pre-school children get the virus, while some 30 per cent of school age children contract the infection.
In a comment on current UK policy to offer Tamiflu to anyone diagnosed with swine flu following a telephone consultation via a pandemic helpline, the authors say, “While morbidity and mortality in the current pandemic remain low, a more conservative strategy might be considered prudent, given the limited data, side effects such as vomiting, and the potential for developing resistant strains of influenza.” This advice supports the approach to the use of anti-viral treatment in the management of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in the Republic.
Last Friday, the first person to die from swine flu here passed away at Tallaght hospital. It is understood the 18-year-old girl from Sligo had cystic fibrosis, which would have put her at risk of respiratory complications from the H1N1 virus.
Pregnant women and younger people with underlying medical conditions are thought to be most at risk of severe infection.
The latest figures show a rate of infection of 32.5 per 100,000 population, well below the peak incidence of seasonal influenza last winter.