Knowledge of Health, Flu-blog update October 8, 2005- What do Cabbage Patch Dolls and Nintendo games have to do with Tamiflu, the only flu medication believed to be appropriate against the dreaded H5N1 influenza virus? The upcoming flu season is earmarked by the shortage of vaccines and medicines. Skilled marketers know that imagined or real shortages of products are often created to boost consumer demand. These shortages are usually created around the Christmas buying season.

A government website says: “Ironically, although there have been three vaccine shortages since 2000 and supplies are strained again this year, in most years manufacturers throw away millions of unused flu shots.”

According to a report in the Wisconsin State Journal: “The nation’s private flu vaccine industry continues to be vulnerable to the whims of the public. If companies make too much vaccine, they lose money. If they don’t make enough, people protest. Yet many people refuse to get shots unless flu hits hard - when it may be too late to develop protection,” says Dennis Maki, an infectious disease specialist at University of Wisconsin- Madison.
“The minute you announce there is a shortage of vaccine, everybody wants it,” Maki said. “Once you say you’ve got plenty of vaccine, it’s, ‘Ho hum, we don’t want it.’” [Wisconsin State Journal Oct. 4, 2005]
The marketers of Tamiflu are no less cunning that those who market Christmas dolls or Nintendo games. The shortage of vaccines and medicines has been well orchestrated between public health officials and the pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Many Americans are coaxing prescriptions for Tamiflu out of their doctors, and then buying it from Canadian sources on the internet. It’s about $6.00 per pill from some sources, and according to Roche, the distributor of Tamiflu, it needs to be taken for a minimum of 7-10 days for prevention, and possibly 6 weeks as the season flu season begins to report actual cases. The suggested dose for adults is 2 (75 milligram) pills per day, or from $84 to $540 for a course of prevention. Dosing for children is 1 pill per day. Tamiflu is not suggested for infants under 1-year of age, nor for pregnant females (associated with loss of pregnancy). Nausea, diarrhea and vomiting are the most common side effects.

Tamiflu does not prevent the individual from being infected by the virus. It works by preventing replication of the virus from already infected cells. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) is used to treat some types of influenza (flu) in patients who have had symptoms of the flu for 2 days or less. Tamiflu also helps shorten the time you have flu symptoms such as nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, tiredness, headache, fever, and chills.

In one study, 5.3% of Tamiflu patients became infected with influenza versus 36% who did not take the drug. So it is not a fool proof medicine. Individuals need to boost their innate immune system with dietary supplements such as vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, vitamin D, and preventive herbal products like elderberry, quercetin and garlic. Tamiflu pills have a very bitter taste and this may need to be masked after taking the pills with chewing gum or mints. Tamiflu needs to be stored at room temperature between 59 to 77 degrees F (15-25 degrees C) to avoid spoilage. If it is shipped to your destination, high temperature may render it useless.

If the U.S. population of 295 million people is exposed to the H5N1 flu strain, one disease model called for 33% who would be infected (97.3 million) and an influenza death rate of 0.58% (5.6 million deaths).

Tamiflu Oral Precautions
Before taking oseltamivir, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or if you have any other allergies.Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist your medical history, especially of: kidney disease.This drug may make you dizzy; use caution engaging in activities requiring alertness such as driving or using machinery. Limit alcoholic beverages.This medication should be used only when clearly needed during pregnancy. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor. It is not known if this drug passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breast-feeding.

Tamiflu Oral Interactions
Your healthcare professionals (e.g., doctor or pharmacist) may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for it. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first. Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use especially of: clopidogrel. Tell your doctor if you have received flu vaccine in the nose within 2 weeks before treatment with this medication. This medication may lower your protection from flu vaccine given in the nose. Wait at least 2 days after ending treatment with this medication before receiving flu vaccine given in the nose.

This document does not contain all possible interactions. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share the list with your doctor and pharmacist

Tamiflu Oral Overdose
If overdose is suspected, contact your local poison control center or emergency room immediately. US residents can call the US national poison hotline at 1-800-222-1222. Canadian residents should call their local poison control center directly. NOTES:
Do not share this medication with others. This medication is not a substitute for the flu vaccine. Consult your doctor about the risks and important benefits of receiving a yearly flu shot to lower your chances of getting the flu.

MISSED DOSE:
If you miss a dose, use it as soon as you remember. If it is within 2 hours of your next dose, skip the missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not double the dose to catch up.

STORAGE:
Store at room temperature (77 degrees F or 25 degrees C) away from light and moisture. Brief storage between 59-86 degrees F (15-30 degrees C) is permitted. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep all medicines away from children and pets. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product.

Haemophilus influenzae is a bacterium that was incorrectly considered to cause the flu until the virus was demonstrated to be the correct cause in 1933. This bacterium can cause lung infections in infants and children, and it occasionally causes ear, eye, sinus, joint, and a few other infections, but not the flu.

What are the causes of the flu?

The flu (influenza) viruses

Influenza viruses are divided into three types, designated A, B, and C. Influenza types A and B are responsible for epidemics of respiratory illness that occur almost every winter and are often associated with increased rates of hospitalization and death. Influenza type C differs from types A and B in some important ways. Type C infection usually causes either a very mild respiratory illness or no symptoms at all; it does not cause epidemics and does not have the severe public health impact of influenza types A and B. Efforts to control the impact of influenza are aimed at types A and B, and the remainder of this discussion will be devoted only to these two types.

Influenza viruses continually change over time, usually by mutation (change in the viral RNA). This constant changing often enables the virus to evade the immune system of the host (humans, birds, and other animals) so that the host is susceptible to changing influenza virus infections throughout life. This process works as follows: a host infected with influenza virus develops antibody against that virus; as the virus changes, the “first” antibody no longer recognizes the “newer” virus and reinfection can occur. The first antibody may in some instances provide partial protection against reinfection with an influenza virus.

Type A viruses are divided into types based on differences in two viral surface proteins called the hemagglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N). There are 16 known H subtypes and nine known N subtypes. These surface proteins can occur in many combinations. When spread by droplets or direct contact, the virus, if not killed by the host’s immune system, replicates in the respiratory tract and damages host cells.

Is there any treatment for the flu?

Flu vaccine

Much of the illness and death caused by influenza can be prevented by annual influenza vaccination. Flu vaccine (influenza vaccine made from inactivated and sometimes attenuated [non-infective] virus) is specifically recommended for those who are at high risk for developing serious complications as a result of influenza infection. These high-risk groups include all people aged 65 years or older and people of any age with chronic diseases of the heart, lung or kidneys, diabetes, immunosuppression, or severe forms of anemia.

Other groups for whom vaccine is specifically recommended are residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities housing patients of any age with chronic medical conditions and children and teenagers who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and who may therefore be at risk for developing Reye syndrome after an influenza virus infection. Influenza vaccine is also recommended for people who are in close or frequent contact with anyone in the high-risk groups defined above. These people include health-care personnel and volunteers who work with high-risk patients and people who live in a household with a high-risk person.

Because the flu is easily spread among children and because many children require hospitalization with the flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now advises that all children ages 6 to 59 months receive a yearly flu vaccination.

Although annual influenza vaccination has long been recommended for people in the high-risk groups, many still do not receive the vaccine. Some people are not vaccinated because of misperceptions about influenza and the vaccine. They mistakenly perceive influenza as merely a nuisance and believe that the vaccine causes unpleasant side effects or that it may even cause the flu. The truth is that influenza vaccine causes no side effects in most people. The most serious side effect that can occur after influenza vaccination is an allergic reaction in people who have severe allergy to eggs, since the viruses used in the vaccine are grown in hens’ eggs. For this reason, people who have an allergy to eggs should not receive the influenza vaccine. Also, the vaccine is not recommended while individuals have active infections or active diseases of the nervous system.

Less than one-third of those who receive the vaccine have some soreness at the vaccination site, and about 5% to 10% experience mild side effects, such as headache or low-grade fever, for about a day after vaccination. These side effects are most likely to occur in children who have not been exposed to influenza virus in the past.

Nevertheless, some older people remember earlier influenza vaccines that did, in fact, produce more unpleasant side effects. Vaccines produced from the 1940s to the mid-1960s were not as highly purified as modern influenza vaccines, and it was these impurities that caused most of the side effects. Since the side effects associated with these early vaccines, such as fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue, were similar to some of the symptoms of influenza, people believed that the vaccine had caused them to get the flu. However, influenza vaccine produced in the United States has never been capable of causing influenza. One type of influenza vaccine made with live attenuated influenza viruses has been developed, but this vaccine is made with viruses that can confer immunity but do not cause classic influenza symptoms.

Some people do not receive influenza vaccine because they believe it is not very effective. There are several different reasons for this belief. People who have received influenza vaccine may subsequently have an illness that is mistaken for influenza, and they believe that the vaccine failed to protect them. In other cases, people who have received the vaccine may indeed have an influenza infection. Overall vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, depending upon the degree of similarity between the influenza virus strains included in the vaccine and the strain or strains that circulate during the influenza season. Because the vaccine strains must be chosen nine to 10 months before the influenza season, and because influenza viruses mutate over time, sometimes mutations occur in the circulating virus strains between the time the vaccine strains are chosen and the next influenza season ends. These mutations sometimes reduce the ability of the vaccine-induced antibody to inhibit the newly mutated virus, thereby reducing vaccine efficacy.

Vaccine efficacy also varies from one person to another. Studies of healthy young adults have shown influenza vaccine to be 70% to 90% effective in preventing illness. In the elderly and those with certain chronic medical conditions such as HIV, the vaccine is often less effective in preventing illness. Studies show the vaccine reduces hospitalization by about 70% and death by about 85% among the elderly who are not in nursing homes. Among nursing-home residents, vaccine can reduce the risk of hospitalization by about 50%, the risk of pneumonia by about 60%, and the risk of death by 75% to 80%. If antigenic drift results in changing the circulating virus from the strains used in the vaccine, vaccine efficacy may be reduced. However, the vaccine is still likely to lessen the severity of the illness and to prevent complications and death.

Treatment of Influenza
Tamiflu is effective against the two most common influenza viruses — Influenza A and Influenza B. For optimum effect, it must be started within one to two days of the first flu symptoms.

Tamiflu is intended to decrease the amount of time you have symptoms of the flu. In clinical studies, Tamiflu has been shown to decrease this amount by one to two days. The drug may also help prevent the spread of flu to others.

Tamiflu is licensed to treat the flu in adults and children 1 year of age and older.

Prevention of Influenza
Tamiflu is also used to decrease the chances of developing symptoms of the flu in the first place. It can be used for flu prevention in adults, as well as in children 1 year of age and older. Tamiflu may be recommended as a preventive measure if a person has been in close contact with someone who has the flu or if a community outbreak of flu occurs. Tamiflu should not be used in place of early vaccination with the flu vaccine.

How Tamiflu Work?

Tamiflu works by attacking the flu virus inside the body, thus preventing it from spreading. This is different from other flu medicines, which just treat flu symptoms.(low cost tamiflu)
Tamiflu is part of a class of drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors. Neuraminidase (an enzyme found on the flu virus) allows the virus to spread. By blocking this enzyme, Tamiflu prevents the virus from spreading.

Are ThereTamiflu Uses for Children?
Tamiflu has been approved for the prevention and treatment of the flu in children 1 year of age and older.

Are There Off-Label Tamiflu Uses?
On occasion, your healthcare provider may recommend a drug for something other than the conditions it is licensed to treat. This is called an “off-label” use. At this time, there are no off-label uses for Tamiflu. However, Tamiflu is actively being studied to learn how effective it is at treating bird flu (avian flu,cheap generic drugs).

An Overview of Generic Tamiflu
Tamiflu® (oseltamivir phosphate) is a prescription medicine that is licensed for the prevention or treatment of the flu in adults and children 1 year of age and older. Tamiflu is manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals and is currently protected by a patent that prevents any generic Tamiflu from being manufactured.(purchase tamiflu)

When Will There Be a Generic Tamiflu?
The patent for Tamiflu expires in 2016. It is expected that once it goes off-patent, several companies will begin manufacturing a generic Tamiflu drug. Normally in the United States, one company is given 180 days of exclusivity to manufacture a generic version. After 180 days, it is likely that a number of other manufacturers of generic medications will also begin making a generic form of Tamiflu.

Is Oseltamivir Phosphate a Generic Tamiflu?
No. Oseltamivir phosphate is the active ingredient in Tamiflu, but it is not a generic Tamiflu. This can be confusing, because the active ingredient of any drug is often referred to as the “generic name.” But the generic name is not the same as the generic version of a medicine. For there to be a generic version of a medicine, the original medicine has to first go off-patent, and then another company besides the original manufacturer must start making the product.

You may experience some common, less serious side effects: nausea (without vomiting,buy cheap tamiflu,low cost), vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness, headache, cough, insomnia, fatigue.

Storage

Store Tamiflu under refrigeration at 36º to 46ºF (2º to 8ºC). Do not freeze.

Overdose

Symptoms of a Tamiflu overdose are nausea and/or vomiting. Seek medical attention if an overdose is suspected.

More Information

You should begin treatment with Tamiflu as soon as possible from the first appearance of flu symptoms. Similarly, prevention should begin as soon as possible after exposure, at the recommendation of a physician (tamiflu and alchool,how to take,cheap price).

Disclaimer

This drug information is for your information purposes only, it is not intended that this information covers all uses, directions, drug interactions, precautions, or adverse effects of your medication. This is only general information, and should not be relied on for any purpose. It should not be construed as containing specific instructions for any particular patient. We disclaim all responsibility for the accuracy and reliability of this information, and/or any consequences arising from the use of this information,(buy cheap tamiflu)  including damage or adverse consequences to persons or property,(low cost tamiflu) however such damages or consequences arise. No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made in regards to this information.

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Tamiflu is used for the treatment of uncomplicated acute illness due to influenza infection(buy cheap tamiflu).

How Taken Tamiflu

You may take Tamiflu with or without food. However, when taken with food, your tolerability to Tamiflu may be enhanced. The recommended oral dose of Tamiflu is 75 mg twice daily for 5 days. You should begin treatment within 2 days of onset of symptoms of influenza(order cheap tamiflu,low cost prices for tamiflu).

Warnings/Precautions

Tamiflu is not a substitute for a flu vaccination. You should continue receiving an annual flu vaccination. It is not known whether this medicine is excreted in human milk (discount price,low cost pills online,shipping worldwide). You should therefore, use this drug only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the breast-fed infant.

Missed Dose

If you miss a dose, use it as soon as you remember. If it is near the time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not double the dose to catch up.

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