Indonesia has launched a nationwide campaign to combat avian influenza, which includes deploying military personnel and volunteers to inspect homes for infected poultry or waterfowl.
The capital city, Jakarta, and its surrounding areas are under special scrutiny as health officials have confirmed cases of the H5N1 virus in humans in this region. Indonesia has also confirmed that a 16-year-old girl who died on November 8 was the sixth victim of avian influenza, and there are two additional suspected cases. To date, the country has confirmed nine cases of avian influenza in humans.
Pharmaceutical company Roche has stated that it will monitor the safety of Tamiflu following reports from Japan questioning whether two teenage suicides last year were linked to side effects of the medication.
Patients taking Tamiflu in Vietnam show no signs of paranoia
* In an interview with a reporter on November 15, Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, deputy head of the emergency department at the Institute of Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital, confirmed that the symptoms of induced paranoia during Tamiflu treatment have not been reported in Vietnam, unlike the two cases in Japan.
Dr. Tuong Van further mentioned that in monitoring patients treated at the hospital recently, 80% of those taking Tamiflu experience circulatory disorders such as dizziness, nausea, and fatigue within 15 minutes of taking the medication. These symptoms typically last for 3 to 5 hours post-administration. “However, these are just sensitive reactions of the body to the chemical, and are not a cause for concern.”
THUY TUNG – THUY KHE
