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Ostensibly for seasonal flu, the sale of Tamiflu to citizens of New Zealand without a prescription has now been approved during their winter flu season.
New Zealand may be first to open up access to Tamiflu
New Zealanders may be the first people in the world to buy antiviral drug, Tamiflu, without a doctor's prescription.
Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is being stockpiled by governments worldwide for use in a global influenza pandemic, with New Zealand storing more than 1.5 million doses.
To date, Japan has been the only nation to use it extensively to treat annual winter flu, prescribing about 10 million courses a year.
However, from this month New Zealanders will be able to buy the medicine over-the-counter from pharmacists to treat winter flu. Drug company Roche believes this to be a world first.
Medicine safety authority, Medsafe, has approved the sale of Tamiflu without a GP's prescription between May and September to make it easier for flu sufferers to take it within the required 48 hours of symptoms developing.
This is despite concerns that widespread use of Tamiflu could see resistance developing, thereby limiting its effectiveness during a pandemic. Doctors worry that patients suffering serious illnesses such as meningitis, which can have symptoms similar to the flu, may go undiagnosed.
Roche spokesman Stuart Knight said new evidence showed only limited resistance had developed to Tamiflu in Japan – about 0.3 per cent over three winters. Other concerns about young people showing abnormal, sometimes dangerous behaviour after taking Tamiflu had also prompted Roche to advise in its data sheet that users be closely monitored.
Christchurch influenza expert Dr Lance Jennings said he supported making Tamiflu more readily available as winter flu was a "devastating disease" causing about 340 deaths a year.
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