Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tamiflu key to treat bird flu, avoid steroids: (WHO opinion piece)
GENEVA (Reuters) - Bird flu patients who get early treatment with the antiviral drug Tamiflu have the best chances of surviving while using steroids can do more harm than good, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
The United Nations agency was reporting on the preliminary conclusions of international experts who met last month in Turkey to compare notes on treatments, including the attempt by doctors in some countries to use steroids as well.
“Corticosteroid therapy has failed so far to show effectiveness,” the WHO warned in a statement. “Prolonged or high dose corticosteroids can result in serious adverse events.”
Frederick Hayden of WHO’s global influenza program said some doctors, notably in Vietnam and Indonesia, had administered steroids to try to save quickly deteriorating bird flu patients. Eight of nine had died, he said, citing published research.
“A concern is some treatment is of unsubstantiated value and in some instances may be doing more harm than good,” he told Reuters.
“Data presented gave strong support that early treatment makes a difference,” Hayden said, citing data from Egypt where 20 of 34 bird flu patients have survived to date.
Bird flu story source: Reuters