One of the most common drugs given for seasonal flu, Tamiflu, seems to having some neuropsychiatric effect on patients, especially children. Most of these cases of bizarre behavior have been reported from Japan.
Tamiflu is one of the four drugs which are administered for seasonal flu in the US. Over the past one year that is from August 2005 to July 2006 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received 103 cases of bizarre behavior after the consumption of the drug. Strange behavior included delirium, hallucinations and suicidal tendencies. Out of the 103 cases 95 were reported from Japan and mostly in Japanese children below the age of 17.
The agency is still to decipher if the strange behavior is caused due to the drug, the flu or a combination of both. Hence they have recommended adding a new warning to the drug label which emphasizes the possibility of such behavior and the need for close monitoring especially for children who are administered a dose of this drug. They, however, mention that if no such symptoms are seen then the drug should be continued.
Tamiflu is manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG. They have collaborating with the FDA on the label changes and have promised full support in getting the issue resolved. However they have emphasized that there was no evidence to link the drug to the side effects. They have also said that mental side effects due to Tamiflu are rare.
The three children, who died, fell to their deaths post taking this drug. One of them, a 14 year old boy, fell after climbing onto the railing of his parent's condominium. Another bizarre case is that of a 8 year old child who after an hour and half of being given one dose of the drug ran out of his home and would not respond to his name and started growling.
Most countries, including the US, stock a reserve supply of this drug in anticipation of a H5N1 avian influenza outbreak. Though this influenza mainly affects birds, 153 deaths have been reported worldwide since 2003 according to a WHO report.
