Image © wrangler - Fotolia.comWed 9 December 2009

No clear evidence it reduces flu complications, study

A panel of experts have said there is no clear evidence that the antiviral drug Tamiflu prevents flu complications such as pneumonia in healthy people.

In fact, they described the drug as having only a "modest effect" as it reduced flu symptoms by approximately one day, if taken early enough.

The team of scientists, led by Professor Chris Del Mar from Bond University in Australia, analysed 20 published studies on the use of antivirals. But eight published studies were excluded as their results could not be verified by other scientists.

The results are published in to-day's British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Although Tamiflu was found to reduce the symptoms of flu by about a day, the researchers said there is not enough published data to say whether or not taking the drug reduces flu complications such as pneumonia in healthy people.

Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of the BMJ, warned that the review leaves important questions about effectiveness unresolved. “Governments around the world have spent billions of pounds on a drug that the scientific community now finds itself unable to judge,” she says.

Claims about the effectiveness of oseltamivir against complications have been a deciding factor by Governments around the world in whether to stockpile drugs as part of global pandemic preparedness plans.

The UK Government alone has spent an estimated £500m on flu antiviral drugs.

Commenting on the results in the BMJ, Professor Nick Freemantle professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Birmingham said: “We have remarkably few resources in this country to spend on pharmaceuticals on health and it’s surprising to see such widespread use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

"But I suppose that once you’ve gone and bought lots of doses then it’s a bit like the situation with gun control in the US. If you have a gun in the house it’s much easier to use it. But it does not mean it’s the right thing to do.”

Dr Fiona Godlee and Professor Mike Clarke, Director of the UK Cochrane Centre which carried out the research, called for worldwide legislation to make sure that "once a trial is completed, there needs to be ready access to the raw data behind any analyses used to licence and market a drug."

I was prescribed some but no-one bothered to tell me that unless you take it within the first 48 hours it's not worth taking. So I waited to see if I needed it and then it was too late. Perhaps I ought to return it to Gordon Brown to save him money! :ph43r: Otherwise I could sell it to the highest bidder! ::03::

I asked my doctor about taking some with us on an alaskan cruise last summer in case we started to get sick. She pretty much came unglued on me and told me I'd be nuts to take it. Like this article is saying, she says it really doesn't do much good, she says it also has some side effects that I didn't want to deal with.

I have asthma and my wife has M.S. and she just said "I'd forbid it." and really didn't get into the details.

It kind of shocked me. She also said that the thought it would hasten the mutations and might even be a detrement to global health in the long run.

So we went on our cruise without it and found that they had us all washing our hands every five minutes and anytime you went from one part of the ship to the other...... I only saw two sick people on the whole trip and they were pretty green from the motion of the ship.

A couple of people got hurt from falling down and I had to go to sick bay every day and get my blood pressure checked because I had changed a prescription.

All in all, we did quite well with out the stuff.

We do take flu shots every year though, that might have something to do with not getting the flu. I've only had the flu one time in the past 20 years and that was this year. I took the seasonal shot and three weeks later got the H1N1 flu just before the vaccine for it came out. (We don't have all the crazy additives over here that you all do in Europe). My wife had the H1N1 in the middle of the summer. Neither of us had much of a problem with it. Three days of a feaver and feel kind of bad for a week. No big deal when your 62 and not working.

I've been offered the vaccine twice since I actually had what I think must have been swine flu. Their argument was it MAY not have been (although they never came out to see me) and so I should have the vaccine just in case and it wouldn't do me any harm if it WAS swine flu that I had.

I am refusing it - I think I have better immunity from actually having had it (confirmed or not)!

:D see I knew I had a brain somewhere.... I have been asked 9 times to have it ( mega health problems and looking after both elderly parents and babies or maybe they just wanted to bump me off ????*diz ) I had to sign a disclaimer and that got them to stop offering it to me <<tmbup>>

I normally take the regular flu shot, but already had a cold when it was available.

Man, do I wish I had went to take it when the cold was gone. Maybe it would have saved me a weeks worth of misery that I have had since friday *diz

I think that this Swine flu thing has been blowen way out of proprtion, yes as with seasonal flu it's killed a few people unfortunatley but for the genrial population I don'treally think there is much to worry about

I'm pretty sure that I had the swine flu, and though it was miserable, it wasn't worse than any other flu.

I'm pretty sure I had it too! From the publicity about people with other medical conditions dying I was quite worried but although I had very high temperatures and felt dreadful it was nothing like the hype. However, it was probably also due to people praying that it wasn't so bad for me. *gig*