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Is Tamiflu Inatke Safe For High Fever?

Posted on Wed, 23 Apr 2014

Question: Hi, My daughter is 16yrs old and had 100F fever yesterday. The symptoms were fever, headache and muscle ache. The Dr. gave her Tamiflu without testing if she actually had the flu, because she had all the symptoms. She took one tablet of tamiflue and tylenol around noon and slept until night. The doctor said that tamiflu shortens the flu to 1-2 days. She felt a lot better yesterday night(the same day) and today(the next day) she feels totally fine and has no fever. The Dr. told us she needs to finish tamiflu for 5days, but I'm not sure if she has the flu or not. I am worried about the side effects of tamiflu. She took 3 tablets of tamiflu so far. Do u think she needs to finish all 10 tablets?

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Not Indicated Detailed Answer: Dear Friend. Hi , I am Dr Anshul Varshney , I have read your query in detail , I understand your concern. It might be simply a Viral infection. Tamiflu has no role and not indicated in routine viral infections. That drug has been reserved for Swine flu. If these days in your area the disease is prevalent then Tamiflu is indicated, else not. I would suggest you to complete the course as it has been started, to avoid drug resistance. This is my personal opinion based on details available here. If you still have any query you may please ask me. Stay Healthy. Dr Anshul Varshney , MD

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Anshul Varshney (18 minutes later)

Hi Thank you for your answer.I just don't want her to take unnecessary medication. Would you explain about drug resistance? There is no Swine flu patient around here. I think that Tamiflu she is taking is for Influenza A & B.

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (10 hours later)

Brief Answer: Detail Follows Detailed Answer: Dear Friend. Drug resistance means development of resistance against the drug in the organism. Say someone has an infection and he takes antibiotic for that and leaves the course in between, and the bacteria is not killed completely. In this case the bacteria would learn something new about the drug and can develop resistance against the drug in its offsprings. So we always advice that if you have been started on any drug you should complete its course even if you feel better in between. This is my best advice for you. Still if you have any query please ask me, else close the discussion and rate it. Stay Healthy.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar