The new flu drug Relenza is now the subject of a warning letter to medical professionals around the country that urges caution when the medicine is used in patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The manufacturer, Glaxo Wellcome Inc., says it has received reports of serious breathing problems in some patients taking Relenza who also have underlying lung disease such as asthma and COPD (e.g., emphysema).
The company declined to give a specific number of deaths related to Relenza because the cases are so complex, but they say severe reactions are "very uncommon."
The warning letter comes out almost exactly one year after the FDA approved Relenza in spite of the negative recommendation from its scientific advisory committee in February 1999.
The panel was concerned the drug didn't actually shorten flu episodes.
Somehow the FDA was convinced that there was a benefit for patients suffering from either type A or type B influenza if Relenza was taken within two days after symptoms began.
"The drug should not have been approved ... There would be no loss here if the drug were not on the market," WebMD quotes Sidney Wolfe, MD, the head of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
In April, the drug was approved for use in children.
The drug ran into fierce controversy in Britain last year after the National Institute for Clinical Excellence ruled it should not be reimbursed on the state-run National Health Service because of doubts about its benefits and its costs.
Relenza (zanamivir) was the first of a new class of drugs for the treatment of the flu called neuraminidase inhibitors.
As a Glaxo representative put it "As with all newly approved drugs, safety data at the time of registration is limited ... "
With respect to flu there is a medical intervention which is particularly helpful. During epidemics I will use it a dozen times per day with different clients. However, it is important to recognize that even though the treatment discussed below is more natural and far more effective, it is only a band-aid and does not address the reasons for the immune impairment.
I would strongly encourage you to find a clinician who can administer this simple safe and relatively inexpensive care for acute viral infections. There is no oral treatment that I have seen that even comes close to its effectiveness. If you are unable to locate someone to provide this service for you, your options would of course be to follow the diet as having sugar while you are ill is one of the most severe stresses you can put on the immune system. Stay away from any foods that convert to sugar quicikly (breads, pasta, rice, potatoes and fruit juices) until you are feeling better. Get plenty of rest and cut back on all elective activities. This is far more vital than superficially apparent. High doses of vitamin C (500-2,000 mg every few hours) are helpful, but be sure to stop or decrease if you reach bowel tolerance which occurs when loose stools start. I am not a fan of echinacea for a variety of reasons, but there are a number of other herbs, botanicals and phytochemicals which may provide some immune enhancement. I tend not to focus on these in my own practice since I rely on the more effective IV treatment I described. My focus is also on identifying the cause of the illness so the problem will not recur in the future, which also decreases the need for these type of ancillary treatments.
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