Tamiflu

Tamiflu has been touted by the World Health Organization and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) as an essential anti-flu medicine and stockpiled at great cost by a number of countries. Tamiflu is said to shorten the time flu will linger if taken as soon as symptoms appear, and more importantly, to reduce the chances of getting flu if you take it shortly after being exposed to a flu virus. However,the Roche Groupe, the corporate group that makes Tamiflu, is said to have done ten studies, but have released their findings on only two of those studies. Okay, right away we have a huge reason not to trust Roche or anybody else touting Tamiflu. What isn't Roche telling us?

In my opinion the major pharmaceutical companies are about as trustable as the tobacco industry.

According to an article in the CBC news dated April 20, 2009 the Canadian stockpile of anti-flu drugs was about 55 million doses. Here is an excerpt from the CBC news article - The national antiviral stockpile contains 55.7 million doses, enough to treat nearly 5.6 million people. Tamiflu, which is sold by Hoffman-La Roche, makes up 90 per cent of the holdings. Relenza accounts for the remaining 10 per cent.
Over the past five years a number of countries have stockpiled antiviral drugs — mainly Tamiflu — as a hedge against a feared flu pandemic. Tamiflu seemed to be a safe bet. Resistance to the drug was rarely seen. And laboratory studies suggested viruses that acquired resistance would be weakened and less able to spread from person to person.
To widespread dismay that theory was proven to be wrong in the winter of 2008. A resistant strain of influenza A virus of the H1N1 variety emerged in Northern Europe. The strain took off, rapidly spreading around the world.

The following is an excerpt from another CBC News article dated March 2, 2009.

The main strain causing flu illnesses in the U.S. is resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu, a government report released Monday shows. As of Feb. 19, researchers found 264 of 268, or 98.5 per cent, of influenza A viruses tested were resistant to oseltamivir, or Tamiflu, researchers reported
in Monday's online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Last flu season, 19 per cent of H1N1 viruses tested were resistant to the
drug, said Dr. Nila Dharan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta and her colleagues. In December, the CDC first warned doctors that they were noticing resistant to Tamiflu among H1N1 strains. At the time, the CDC advised giving Tamiflu with another anti-viral drug, Relenza, also called zanamivir, or a generic drug called rimantadine.

For the study, the researchers interviewed 99 patients. They found 30 per
cent of them were vaccinated against the flu, but came down with it anyway.

The following information is from the Tamiflu website

Indications Tamiflu is for treating people 1 year and older with influenza (flu) whose symptoms started within the last 2 days. Tamiflu can also reduce the chance of getting the flu. Tamiflu is not a substitute for an annual flu vaccination.

Important Safety Information
Before taking Tamiflu, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or nursing. Let your doctor know if you have kidney disease, heart disease, respiratory disease, or other serious health conditions. Also tell your doctor about any medications you are taking or if you’ve received a nasal-spray flu vaccine in the past 2 weeks. If you have an allergic reaction or a severe rash with Tamiflu, stop taking it, and contact your doctor right away. This may be very serious. The most common side effects of Tamiflu are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting.

The following bits of information are from the 24-page Tamiflu Prescribing Information Website:
There is no evidence for efficacy of TAMIFLU in any illness caused by agents other than influenza viruses types A and B. Influenza viruses change over time. Emergence of resistance mutations could decrease drug effectiveness. Other factors (for example, changes in viral virulence) might also diminish clinical benefit of antiviral drugs. Prescribers should consider available information on
influenza drug susceptibility patterns and treatment effects when deciding whether to use TAMIFLU.


People with the flu, particularly children and adolescents, may be at increased risk for seizures, confusion, or abnormal behavior when they first get sick. These events may occur when the flu is not treated or right after starting Tamiflu. These events are uncommon but may lead to accidental injury. Contact a healthcare professional right away if you notice any unusual behavior. The most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting.

Limitations of Populations Studied
Efficacy of TAMIFLU in the treatment of influenza in patients with chronic cardiac disease and/or respiratory disease has not been established. No difference in the incidence of complications was observed between the treatment and placebo groups in this population. No information is available regarding treatment of influenza in patients with any medical condition sufficiently severe or unstable to be considered at imminent risk of requiring hospitalization. Efficacy of TAMIFLU for treatment or prophylaxis of influenza has not been established in immunocompromised patients.
ADVERSE REACTIONS

Serious skin and hypersensitivity reactions
Neuropsychiatric events

Less serious reactions include:Nausea,
Vomiting,
Diarrhea,
Headache,
Fatigue
and other less common reactions

The following chart is from www.Webmd

Common side effects of Tamiflu Oral:
Feel Like Throwing Up Less Severe
Throwing Up Less Severe

Infrequent side effects of Tamiflu Oral:
Bronchitis                            Severe
Dizzy                                   Less Severe
Chronic Trouble Sleeping   Less Severe
Head Pain                            Less Severe
Cough                                  Less Severe
Diarrhea                               Less Severe
Stomach Cramps                 Less Severe

Rare side effects of Tamiflu Oral:

Pink Eye                             Severe
Angina                                Severe
Abnormal Heart Rhythm Severe
Acute Infection of the
Nose, Throat or Sinus        Severe
Pneumonia                        Severe
Inflammation of the Large
Intestine with Bleeding     Severe
Hepatitis                           Severe
Bleeding of the Stomach
or Intestines                     Severe
Bloody Diarrhea
from Antibiotics               Severe
Erythema Multiforme   Severe
Toxic Epidermal
Necrolysis                       Severe
Stevens-Johnson
Syndrome                       Severe
Hives                              Severe
Delirium                         Severe
Seizures                          Severe
Fever                              Severe
Rash                               Severe
Puffy Face from
Water Retention             Severe
Nosebleed                      Severe
Abnormal Liver
Function Tests               Severe
Injury                             Severe
Low Body Temperature Severe
Life Threatening Allergic
Reaction                       Severe
Reaction due to
an Allergy                     Severe
Diabetes                       Severe
Anemia                         Severe
Confused Severe
Irritation of the Ear     Less Severe
Indigestion                  Less Severe
Eczema                       Less Severe
Inflammation of Skin
caused by an Allergy   Less Severe
Hallucination               Less Severe
Sensation of Spinning
or Whirling                  Less Severe

Low Energy                 Less Severe
Runny Nose                 Less Severe


The following is an excerpt of a November 28, 2012 article from Dr. Mercola's website, http:// articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/

By Dr. Mercola
What should you reach for when you come down with the flu? The antiviral drug
Tamiflu is the second recommendation on the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) list of recommended treatments, right behind the flu vaccine.

Both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines
Agency have approved Tamiflu for both the treatment and prevention of flu, and
governments around the world have stockpiled the drug at the recommendation of
the World Health Organization (WHO), in preparation for potential flu pandemics.

Use of the drug dramatically increased after the worldwide 2009 swine flu pandemic. But does Tamiflu actually work?

Researchers with the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration group are now raising
serious questions about the drug's effectiveness and the scientific basis for
the global recommendation of the drug. In a similar vein, despite the fact that
the science behind flu vaccines is flimsy at best, with numerous studies showing
flu vaccines simply do not work, 150 Cincinatti health care workers now face being fired unless they get a flu shot, as reported by CNBC above. This trend of widely recommending, or worse, mandating, certain drugs and vaccines without a sturdy scientific base for doing so is truly
troubling, and must be addressed.
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The world has been sucked in. All that Tamiflu and all that money and no evidence whatever that it works. As the makers tell you on their website, viruses mutate. Even if it works a little one year will it the next. The only believable evidence is that Tamiflu can make you sick or, in rare cases, kill you.
My question is why are we still pushing any anti-flu vaccines, whether it is Tamiflu or anything else. My own doctor, while paying lip service to the accepted practice of recommending annual flu shots, didn't try very hard at all. I was left to conclude that she didn't particularly disagree with my long held position that I am no more likely to get the flu than those who religiously, with blind faith in the unproven, take anti-flu vaccines. Actually I think I am less likely to get it. What is certain is that I am not ever going to get any of those potentially nasty side effects.