Vietnam: No Fatal Cases Linked to Tamiflu Use
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun an investigation to determine whether there is any connection between the use of Tamiflu and the deaths of 12 children in Japan, as reported by Japan’s Ministry of Health and by Roche Pharmaceuticals themselves.
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Roche staff monitoring Tamiflu production |
Although Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare concluded that Tamiflu was not the cause of half of these deaths, the FDA still believes that further research is necessary.
The FDA has collected reports concerning suspected deaths due to side effects of various medications, including Tamiflu, among patients aged 16 and under worldwide from March 2004 to April 2005. According to these documents, 12 children, all from Japan, died after taking Tamiflu. Four of them died just hours after taking the medication, while four others died due to heart and lung failure; the remaining four were reported to have experienced altered consciousness, pneumonia, suffocation, and acute pancreatitis.
However, the FDA acknowledges that reaching a definitive conclusion is challenging due to the possibility that the children may have been taking other medications as well. Additionally, reports indicate that there were 32 cases of neurological and psychological disorders following Tamiflu use, with 31 of those cases occurring in Japan, but details remain scarce.
* According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, Deputy Head of the Emergency Department at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Tamiflu has been used for treatment and prevention for patients and healthcare workers at the institute since early 2003, when Vietnam began to confront the SARS outbreak.
To date, thousands of Tamiflu doses have been administered, with many patients discharged from hospitals. In fact, there have been no serious health impacts reported from Tamiflu usage, except for a few cases where patients experienced dizziness and fatigue for about 30 minutes when taking the medication on an empty stomach, after which they returned to normal.
THUY TUNG – NGOC HA (According to Independent, Reuters, AFP)
