The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to watch for signs of bizarre behavior in children taking the flu drug Tamiflu.
Pediatric problems have been reported in Japan of children treated with Tamilfu having strange behavior that include delirium, hallucinations and suicidal tendencies. Three deaths from falls have already been reported, and the FDA doesn’t know yet if the effects are tied to the drugs, the flu or a combination of both, reported the Associated Press.
If the flu causes these behavior, then stopping treatment might bring more harm to the children. However, the agency still recommended that a new warning needs to be attached to the drug label of this possibility, and that close monitoring of children are needed.
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.
Roche Holding AG, the makers of Tamiflu, has issued a statement that is has agreed to revising the drug label and “is committed to working with regulators to ensure that the drug’s labeling accurately reflects reports of adverse events”. The manufacturer has also emphasized that there are no evidence to link the drug to the side effect and that mental side effects of Tamiflu are rare.
[Source: Earthtimes.org; Bloomberg.com]
Tags: Tamiflu, anti-viral drugs, Food and Drug Administration, Roche Holding AG, neuropsychiatric effects
And have there been any symptoms what so ever ? This is really an alarm signal.
[...] USA, Taiwan and South Korea all issued warnings in recent months to watch for signs of bizarre behavior [...]
[...] drug to treat influenza, but several months ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to watch for signs of bizarre behavior in children taking the flu [...]