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The flu drug amantadine, has been shown to cause adverse
effects to the central nervous system (CNS) in a nearly 1 out of every
5 patients using it. Confusion was the most common adverse effect, accounting
for over half the complaints.
There are currently 2 drugs (amantadine and rimantadine)
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for
the prevention of certain strains of influenza. This study of 156 nursing
home patients examined the rate of adverse reactions in those who received
one of these two drugs. The other drug, rimantadine was found to cause
adverse CNS effects in just under 2% of users.
Arch Intern Med 2000;160:1485-1488
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