FDA investigates the side effects of Tamiflu

Vietnam: There have been no cases of death due to the use of Tamiflu

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun investigating whether there is a link between the use of Tamiflu and the deaths of 12 Japanese children in Japanese Ministry of Health reports and of Roche Pharmacy or not.

Roche employees monitor the production of Tamiflu

Although the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Security has concluded that Tamiflu is not the cause of half of these deaths, the FDA still believes that further research is needed.

The FDA has collected documents about suspected deaths due to the side effects of drugs, including Tamiflu, of patients aged 16 or younger around the world from March 2004 to April 2005. According to these documents, 12 children, all Japanese, died after taking Tamiflu. Four of them died after only a few hours of medication, four more died of cardiac and lung failure; The remaining four children are caused by consciousness disorders, pneumonia, suffocation and acute pancreatitis.

However, FDA admits it is difficult to find a conclusion because children may use more other drugs. In addition, reports also reported that there were 32 cases of psychosis and psychosis after taking Tamiflu, 31 of which were in Japan, but did not provide much detail.

* According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, deputy dean of the emergency department of the Institute of Clinical Medicine for Tropical Diseases, Tamiflu is used in treatment and prevention for patients and medical staff at the hospital since early 2003, when Vietnam began to deal with SARS.

To date, thousands of Tamiflu tablets have been used, many patients have been discharged. In fact, no one has had serious health effects because of taking Tamiflu, except for a few cases due to the fasting medication, it may indicate dizziness and fatigue about 30 minutes back to normal.

Thuy Tung - NGOC HA (According to Independent, Reuters, AFP)