Tamiflu is a medicine that is to be taken when you are infected
by the influenza virus. Now that I have covered what Tamiflu is briefly
I will go into the details and then give you a study on the effects of
Tamiflu when you are pregnant and lactating because this too is an
important part of pregnancy.
How Tamiflu treats the Flu
The
main ingredient of the Tamiflu medicine is the Oseltamivir phosphate.
This medicine belongs among a group of medications which is called the
neuraminidase inhibitors. The medicine acts in this way; it attacks the
influenza virus in the body and stops it from spreading inside the
body. This is a great cure. You will feel the symptoms reducing within
a span of two days. Most other medications for flu go for the symptoms
and try to cure the symptoms or mask them. So you can simply say that
Tamiflu treats the flu at the source of the infection.
Tamiflu Dosage
For
knowing its effects on pregnancy one should know the dosage of the
capsule. Each capsule of the medication contains seventy five milligrams of
the active drug. The capsule is a grey and light yellow capsule. For
persons afflicted by the flu, they re supposed to take two capsules
orally; one capsule in the morning and one in the evening. For people
who have been exposed to the influenza virus and they who are taking
this medicine as a preventive measure against the flu should take only
one seventy five milligrams capsule in a day. In the earlier case the person
is prescribed this medicine for a period of five days and in the second
case for a period of seven days. So this is the approximate dosage of
what a pregnant lady will have if she is faced with the consequences of
taking Tamiflu.
Studies conducted on the medication for pregnancy
Now
I will be discussing the studies conducted on the medication for
pregnancy. The FDA has categorized this drug under the medical category
"C". The data collected is insufficient to give a clear picture on the
effects of Tamiflu on pregnant women and her developing fetus. As
there was no human specimens in the tests initial tests were conducted
on rats. Then in a later stage we switched over to rabbits. The
pregnant rats were given Tamiflu in different proportions. They were
administered dosages of fifty, two hundred and fifty and one thousand
five hundred milligrams for per kilogram per day. The rabbits were
given fifty, one hundred and fifty and five hundred milligrams for every
kilogram per day. Both these animals were given the medication by the
oral route. The relative exposure rates were accounted for. In a rat
the exposure for these doses was two, thirteen and a hundred times. In
the case of the rabbit it was four, eight and a fifty times.
Pharmacokinetic study showed that fetal exposure was there in both the
cases. In the case of the rats, the maternal toxicity was minimal that
too in the one thousand five hundred milligram per kilogram per day
group. The rabbit showed slight maternal toxicities. Skeletal
abnormalities were observed in the cases where the doses were increased.
However the abnormality remained in the background.
The studies
came to the conclusion as such, "Tamiflu should be prescribed to a
pregnant woman only if the case justifies the potential benefit of the
fetus."
A similar study was conducted on rats and rabbits for the
effects of Tamiflu in lactating mothers. It was observed that
Oseltamivir and Oseltamivir carboxylate are given out in the milk. A
similar human study could not be conducted due to the lack of lactating
mothers infected by the flu who are willing to contribute towards
experimentation.
Anyway the conclusion drawn is also the same as
that drawn for the pregnancy test. It was again cited "Tamiflu should
be prescribed to a pregnant woman only if the case justifies the
potential benefit of the foetus."
By
Ian Mason