Roche’s antiviral treatment Oseltamivir (Tamilfu) for the H1N1 swine flu boosts H1N1 virus infectivity in vitro according to a study published this autumn in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 387, Issue 2, 18 September 2009, Pages 405-408.
Boost H1N1 Virus Infectivity
'A study conducted by the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that the antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) boosts H1N1 viral infection.
'The study presented in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications showed that tests from two wild 2009 H1N1 virus strains, A/California/07/09 and A/Sichuan/1/09, as well as a seasonal flu virus, A/Baoan/51/2008, confirmed these findings.
'Antivirals have been found to consistently cause pneumonia and respiratory failure.
'The WHO reports that populations are increasingly becoming resistant to antivirals such as Tamiflu for the current H1N1 pandemic virus.
'Numerous reports and studies have already linked Tamiflu to dozens of deaths worldwide in apparently very health children. The British Medical Journal reported that children with seasonal flu should not be given Tamiflu because harmful side effects may outweigh relatively meager benefits. Yet antivirals are one of the primary tools used by Longini and Halloran to prevent a pandemic. On the contrary, antivirals would only accelerate it.
'Tamiflu and other antivirals lower body temperatures. They make people (who can still transmit the virus) asymptomatic for longer periods and can therefore be expected to facilitate and contribute to the spread of a pandemic. If populations begin taking Tamiflu as a preventive measure, it could potentially cause the reverse of the intended effect, causing an explosion of viral transmission.'
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