Japanese health authorities warned yesterday morning that the anti-influenza drug Tamiflu should not be given to teenagers, after reports that some children who took the drug exhibited bizarre behavior, according to Japanese news media.
The Kyodo news service reported from Tokyo that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had issued the new instructions on Tuesday after two 12-year-old boys taking the drug jumped from the second floors of their homes within the past two months, suffering broken legs.
But concerns have been mounting for years in Japan, where children taking Tamiflu have jumped from balconies or rushed headlong into the street. In at least a few cases the children were killed.
However, the authorities in both the US and Japan have said that it is unclear if the behavior is caused by the drug, by the flu itself or by another cause.
Ministry officials could not be reached because it was a holiday in Japan.
It was not immediately clear if the officials now believed that evidence of a link between the drug and the behavior was stronger, or if they were just deciding to err on the side of caution.
The US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement on Tuesday night that it was continuing to monitor the side effects reported in users of Tamiflu, and that it would update the drug's prescribing information in the future if warranted.
The US label for the drug already contains a precaution referring to the reports, mostly from Japan, of "self-injury and delirium" among users of Tamiflu.
"The relative contribution of the drug to these events is not known," the label says. "Patients with influenza should be closely monitored for signs of abnormal behavior throughout the treatment period."
Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, is used to shorten the duration of the flu.
Roche, the drug's manufacturer, defended the safety of the treatment in a statement issued on Tuesday from its headquarters in Geneva.
The company said that studies, including one coordinated by Japan's health ministry, have shown that children taking Tamiflu have a rate of neurological and psychiatric events similar to that of children with the flu who are not treated with the drug.
"Influenza-associated delirium and neuropsychiatric disorders are not uncommon and occur in the United States in approximately 4 of every 100,000 influenza patients," Roche said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique