 |
||
| Doctor: Tamiflu useless | ||
|
HANOI, Sun. --- A Vietnamese doctor who has treated dozens of victims of avian flu claims the drug being stockpiled around the world to combat a pandemic is "useless" against the virus. Dr Nguyen Tuong Van runs the intensive care unit at the Centre for Tropical Diseases here and has treated 41 victims of H5N1. She followed World Health Organization guidelines and gave her patients Tamiflu, but concluded it had no effect. "We place no importance on using this drug on our patients", she said. "Tamiflu is really only meant for treating ordinary type A flu. It was not designed to combat H5N1. Tamiflu is useless". |
Her verdict casts doubt on the pandemic flu policy put in place in Britain. Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, has ordered 15 million doses to "protect" a quarter of the population against the flu pandemic. Dr Van, who has also treated patients with SARS, the respiratory condition linked to birds, said avian flu had a frightening effect on its victims and the only way to keep patients alive was to "support" all their vital organs, including the liver and kidneys, with modern technology like ventilators and dialysis machines. Dr Van would not criticize Governments for stockpiling Tamiflu but said doctors had to explain its limitations. |
Roche has sold stockpiles of Tamiflu to 40 countries. It insisted there was clear evidence it would protect against a future flu virus. However, it stressed the drug must be given within 48 hours to be effective. The WHO admitted Tamiflu had not been "widely successful in human patients". "However, we believe in many Asian countries it hasn't been used until late in the illness", a spokesman said. "While here is anecdotal evidence of the build-up of resistance to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu, at present the experience is that these drugs do work". --- The Times. |
|
|
||
