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SYRACUSE -- You likely know someone by now who has or has had the H1N1 virus, and they may have taken the drug Tamiflu to treat their symptoms. But according to the CDC, most patients shouldn't take that drug, and it can cause severe side effects.
Even though the traditional flu season doesn't usually spike until December, Dr. Peter Silas says his office has been packed with sick patients.
"That's virtually every child that's coming in with flu-like illness has swine flu," Silas says. "It's still going strong. In fact, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better."
Most of the patients he sees expect to get Tamiflu, but Silas says he won't write a prescription for most flu patients. He says normal healthy children and adults over the age of two shouldn't really be getting Tamiflu.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tamiflu should only go to a small percentage of flu patients, whether they have H1N1 or not.
Silas says Tamiflu should go exclusively to those patients with underlying conditions, such as heart problems or asthma, or those who develop other illnesses like pneumonia. Yet, pharmacies all over the country-- including here in Utah-- are running out of Tamiflu.
Silas says he believes the antiviral is over-prescribed, and what many people don't know is that Tamiflu has some potentially dangerous and bizarre psychiatric side effects.
"I saw a child earlier in the week who started hearing voices after taking one dose of Tamiflu. And one of my partners had a child who developed severe anxiety after taking Tamiflu," Silas says.
He says his office, Wee Care in Syracuse, contacted a psychiatrist who told them the numbers of patients experiencing similar side effects after taking Tamiflu has skyrocketed. Part of that they credit to so many more patients taking the drug.
"In the literature there have been reports of severe hallucinations, such that some children have died in past years," Silas says.
Silas says while he understands patients want to ease their symptoms, usually rest and over-the-counter drugs are the appropriate option.
"Keep the fevers down as best as you can. Take plenty of liquids," Silas says.
Silas says cases resulting in death are very rare, but psychiatric side effects are becoming much more common. He says the two patients his office saw this week are still experiencing psychiatric symptoms even though they have stopped taking Tamiflu.
If you haven't contracted the swine flu, and don't want to get it, there are several mass vaccination clinics planned in the coming week that are open to the public.
Salt Lake Valley Health Department will hold H1N1 influenza mass vaccination clinics at four locations Saturday. The clinics will run from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or until the 7,000 doses are gone.
The Davis County Health Department is also planning a H1N1 vaccination clinic on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
For times and locations of vaccination clinics in both Salt Lake and Davis counties, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: jstagg@ksl.com
