ID :
58786
Mon, 05/04/2009 - 13:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/58786
The shortlink copeid
VIROLOGIST: USE TAMIFLU AND VACCINES WISELY
By Sakina Mohamed
KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Bernama) -- The rising number of deaths and illnesses
attributed to the influenza A H1N1 is causing much panic as it is so easily
transmitted among humans, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise
the pandemic alert to stage 5.
Pharmacies are stocking up on Tamiflu and Relenza medicines and the public
wants to know where they can obtain supply.
But eminent virologist Emeritus Prof Dr Lam Sai Kit is worried that if
antivirals like Tamiflu and Relenza are readily available over-the-counter,
they could be abused.
"If any medication is overused and abused and not prescribed by doctors,
then the chances of the virus developing resistance is high.
"There are people who think that by taking Tamiflu, they can prevent the
onset of flu but that is using the medication wrongly," Dr Lam, who is with
Universiti Malaya's Institute of Research Management and Monitoring, told
Bernama.
He said there were also people who quickly popped a Tamiflu in their
mouths
when they had ordinary flu, and by doing so, they might be diminishing the
potency of the drugs.
"Once we can't use Tamiflu or Relenza, what are we going to use? We will
have nothing much as armoury against severe influenza," he said.
Dr Lam, who is former director of the WHO's National Influenza Centre
(Malaysia), said that Tamiflu worked by killing the virus before it could go
through its entire life cycle, thus preventing it from replicating or growing.
Furthermore, he said, the majority of influenza infections did not require
treatment with antivirals since they were mild and confined to the upper
respiratory tract and did not go down to the lungs.
"Tamiflu should only be used if there is evidence that the influenza a
patient has is caused by something life-threatening,such as pneumonia or lung
infection.
"The more virulent types of flu usually go down to the lungs and require
an antiviral like Tamiflu," he said.
When asked if Tamiflu was still safe to be prescribe for children after
recent reports of psychiatric disturbances, heart and lung disorders and deaths
among 12 children, Dr Lam said the benefits outweighed the complications.
"The WHO is still recommending its usage. The evidence is obviously not
strong enough and the benefit far outweighs any rare complications.
"In any case, other studies have not reported such adverse events. Dosage
should be according to recommendations," he said.
In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration changed the drug's label to
acknowledge reports of "delirium and abnormal behavior leading to injury, and in
some cases, resulting in fatal outcomes," among flu patients taking Tamiflu.
In its website, it stated that the reasons the neuropsychiatric
adverse events and deaths were reported almost entirely in Japanese children
were still unclear but it was unusual enough to prompt further evaluation.
On another note, Dr Lam welcomed the WHO's move to rename swine flu as
influenza A (H1N1) as there has yet to be irrefutable evidence of pigs spreading
the virus.
"So far, there has been no concrete evidence of the involvement of pigs
spreading the virus, yet undue attention is paid to pigs."
He questioned the proposal of spending millions to vaccinate pigs with the
old swine flu vaccine.
"In Malaysia, it was mentioned that around RM7 million would be spent to
vaccinate pigs against swine flu. The question is, why? Hopefully, the
government will review this.
"In any case, the old swine flu vaccine to be used in pigs is unlikely to
protect against the present H1N1 strain, much like the seasonal flu composite
vaccine for use in humans. Scarce resources should be used to prevent the spread
of human infections since it is a fact that it is human-to-human transmission
which is all important now," he said.
Furthermore, Dr Lam said, the WHO did not recommend any steps to prevent the
movement of pigs, unlike during the Nipah virus outbreak.
"There is scant evidence of pig involvement in the present pandemic so we
should leave the pigs alone for now.
"The pig farming industry has already been hit because of the labelling of
the pandemic virus as swine flu and hopefully, this renaming of the virus will
switch the attention back to human transmission and prevention," said Dr Lam,
who headed the research team that studied the Nipah virus when it was first
discovered.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Bernama) -- The rising number of deaths and illnesses
attributed to the influenza A H1N1 is causing much panic as it is so easily
transmitted among humans, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise
the pandemic alert to stage 5.
Pharmacies are stocking up on Tamiflu and Relenza medicines and the public
wants to know where they can obtain supply.
But eminent virologist Emeritus Prof Dr Lam Sai Kit is worried that if
antivirals like Tamiflu and Relenza are readily available over-the-counter,
they could be abused.
"If any medication is overused and abused and not prescribed by doctors,
then the chances of the virus developing resistance is high.
"There are people who think that by taking Tamiflu, they can prevent the
onset of flu but that is using the medication wrongly," Dr Lam, who is with
Universiti Malaya's Institute of Research Management and Monitoring, told
Bernama.
He said there were also people who quickly popped a Tamiflu in their
mouths
when they had ordinary flu, and by doing so, they might be diminishing the
potency of the drugs.
"Once we can't use Tamiflu or Relenza, what are we going to use? We will
have nothing much as armoury against severe influenza," he said.
Dr Lam, who is former director of the WHO's National Influenza Centre
(Malaysia), said that Tamiflu worked by killing the virus before it could go
through its entire life cycle, thus preventing it from replicating or growing.
Furthermore, he said, the majority of influenza infections did not require
treatment with antivirals since they were mild and confined to the upper
respiratory tract and did not go down to the lungs.
"Tamiflu should only be used if there is evidence that the influenza a
patient has is caused by something life-threatening,such as pneumonia or lung
infection.
"The more virulent types of flu usually go down to the lungs and require
an antiviral like Tamiflu," he said.
When asked if Tamiflu was still safe to be prescribe for children after
recent reports of psychiatric disturbances, heart and lung disorders and deaths
among 12 children, Dr Lam said the benefits outweighed the complications.
"The WHO is still recommending its usage. The evidence is obviously not
strong enough and the benefit far outweighs any rare complications.
"In any case, other studies have not reported such adverse events. Dosage
should be according to recommendations," he said.
In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration changed the drug's label to
acknowledge reports of "delirium and abnormal behavior leading to injury, and in
some cases, resulting in fatal outcomes," among flu patients taking Tamiflu.
In its website, it stated that the reasons the neuropsychiatric
adverse events and deaths were reported almost entirely in Japanese children
were still unclear but it was unusual enough to prompt further evaluation.
On another note, Dr Lam welcomed the WHO's move to rename swine flu as
influenza A (H1N1) as there has yet to be irrefutable evidence of pigs spreading
the virus.
"So far, there has been no concrete evidence of the involvement of pigs
spreading the virus, yet undue attention is paid to pigs."
He questioned the proposal of spending millions to vaccinate pigs with the
old swine flu vaccine.
"In Malaysia, it was mentioned that around RM7 million would be spent to
vaccinate pigs against swine flu. The question is, why? Hopefully, the
government will review this.
"In any case, the old swine flu vaccine to be used in pigs is unlikely to
protect against the present H1N1 strain, much like the seasonal flu composite
vaccine for use in humans. Scarce resources should be used to prevent the spread
of human infections since it is a fact that it is human-to-human transmission
which is all important now," he said.
Furthermore, Dr Lam said, the WHO did not recommend any steps to prevent the
movement of pigs, unlike during the Nipah virus outbreak.
"There is scant evidence of pig involvement in the present pandemic so we
should leave the pigs alone for now.
"The pig farming industry has already been hit because of the labelling of
the pandemic virus as swine flu and hopefully, this renaming of the virus will
switch the attention back to human transmission and prevention," said Dr Lam,
who headed the research team that studied the Nipah virus when it was first
discovered.
-- BERNAMA
