'Half of children suffer swine flu drug side-effects'

London Evening Standard
Aug. 01, 2009

More than half of children taking Tamiflu suffer side-effects such as nausea, insomnia and nightmares, researchers said.

Two studies from experts at the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed a "high proportion" of British schoolchildren reporting problems after taking the anti-viral drug.

Data was gathered from children at three schools in London and one in the South West who were given Tamiflu earlier this year after classmates became infected.

The researchers behind one study said that, although children may have attributed symptoms that were due to other illnesses to the use of Tamiflu, "this is unlikely to account for all the symptoms experienced".

Their research, published in Eurosurveillance, looked at side-effects reported by 11 and 12-year-old pupils in one school year in a secondary school in South West England.

The school was closed for 10 days in response to a pupil being confirmed with swine flu on return from a holiday in Cancun, Mexico.

A total of 248 pupils took part in the study and were given Tamiflu prophylactically.

Compliance with prophylaxis was high, with 77% of children taking the full course, the researchers said.

But they added: "Fifty-one per cent experienced symptoms such as feeling sick (31.2%), headaches (24.3%) and stomach ache (21.1%).

The researchers said "likely side-effects were common" and the "burden of side-effects needs to be considered" when deciding on giving Tamiflu to children prophylactically.

The researchers concluded that a "high proportion of school children may experience side-effects of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) medication.

Another study, also published by Eurosurveillance, looked at 103 children.

Of these, 85 took the drug prophylactically after a classmate was diagnosed with swine flu, with 45 experiencing one or more side-effect.

The most frequently reported side-effect was nausea (29%), followed by stomach pain or cramps (20%) and problems sleeping (12%).

Gastrointestinal side-effects - nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain/cramps - were reported by 40% of the children.

Almost one in five (18%) reported a "neuropsychiatric side effect", such as poor concentration, inability to think clearly, problems sleeping, feeling dazed or confused, bad dreams or nightmares and "behaving strangely".

The research was carried out in April and May - before the Government decided to stop using Tamiflu prophylactically.

Only those with suspected or confirmed swine flu are now getting the drug.

The experts said clinical trials have shown that around 10% of people taking Tamiflu report nausea without vomiting, and an extra 10% experience vomiting.

A spokesman from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it was monitoring reported side-effects by GPs and the public.

Between April 1 and July 23, the MHRA received a total of 150 reports of 241 suspected side-effects for Tamiflu and five reports for another anti-viral, Relenza.

A statement from Roche, which manufactures Tamiflu, said the contribution of Tamiflu to neuropsychiatric events "has not been established".

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "As is the case with many medicines, nausea is a known side-effect of Tamiflu, in a small number of cases.

"Symptoms may lessen over the course of the treatment, and it may help to take Tamiflu either with or immediately after food, and drinking some of water may also lessen any feeling of nausea."

The research comes after the Government said the number of swine flu cases "may have plateaued", with 110,000 new cases in England last week.

The data represent a 10% rise on the 100,000 new cases estimated in the previous week.

The confirmed death total linked to the virus for England is 27 and 746 patients are also being treated in hospital.

Of these, 81 are in intensive care - up on the 63 in intensive care in the previous week.

Some 150,000 people have received Tamiflu via the National Pandemic Flu Service, which launched last week.

It is unclear how many of these people may also be appearing in the 100,000 data relating to new cases.

The Government said today that producing reliable estimates is "very challenging" due to the move from GP consultations to the National Pandemic Flu Service.

The start of the school summer holidays is also thought to be reflected in the figures, with a decrease in the estimated number of cases among children aged five to 14.