Got better,stopped Tamiflu course: BMC to take count,warns of risk

The decision was taken by the civic health department in a meeting on swine flu preparations on Monday. The five-day course is routine for those who show the signs,but many stop it abruptly when the symptoms go away and health improves.

“We had observed that there are some people who discontinue the course after two or three days. This can make the virus resistant to Tamiflu,” said additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar.

The BMC has a database of those who had been prescribed Tamiflu. At present,around 60 people in the city are on Tamiflu and civic officials said the number is manageable; they can make calls and ask if the prescription was followed.

“We will call these people as a follow-up activity and verify whether they have been taking the doses regularly. If not then they will be counselled on the ill-effects. We hope they will be convinced,” Mhaiskar said.

Dr Tanu Singhal,consultant at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital,said,“If people drop out midway through the course,he or she may provoke resistance to Tamiflu.”

Panic school
Parents have begun withdrawing children from a residential school in Maval,Pune,where some students had tested H1N1 positive. Authorities then intervened and tracked each child,some of them from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai,and put them on Tamiflu. The school is open and teachers have been asked to keep an eye open for possible symptoms.

(Inputs by Swatee Kher and Jinal Shah)