It’s that time of the year again when the flu starts coming up and tons of people are suffering from fever, headaches and muscle aches. Medical experts urge people to take a flu shot, especially younger children and elders.
If you already have the flu, the popular medicine Tamiflu can lessen the severity of the infection up to 30 percent and shortens the duration of it by at least 12 hours. It is mostly the shorter duration of the infection that is essential for a quick and healthy recovery.
“For anyone, being sick longer can lead to a compromised immune system that may spawn lethal bacterial infections, such as pneumonia,” Dr. John Shufeldt said to Healthline.
Unfortunately, the drug can have some side effects. Two-year-old boy Steven Wallens started having all the symptoms of the flu and even had a couple of seizures. His parents Andrea and Josh took him to the hospital.
Doctors confirmed that Steven was suffering from a flu infection and quickly gave him a medicine for his seizures and prescribed Tamiflu as well.
The latter would end up making the situation even worse.
The little boy started screaming in pain and was in a state of rage. He was aggressive towards his mother, as he slapped her right in the face when she came to check on him. Steven started getting twitches and continuously slammed his head on a pillow because he was in pain. According to his parents, their son started hallucinating as well.
This behavior is anything but normal, especially because Steven is an otherwise very well behaved child. The Wallens family noticed that this strange behavior started after he took Tamiflu.
After they stopped giving him the popular flu medicine, Steven’s behavior returned to normal.
Another case of abnormal behavior after taking Tamiflu was reported by CBS when an 11-year-old girl from Indianapolis heard voices in her head and hallucinated that there were bugs on her body.
The Tamiflu description does say that there is a possible increased risk of abnormal behavior, although it does state that it does not occur often and the medicine’s benefits against the flu are important.
“There are side effects with anything. Rarely, it can cause psychological side effects, such as hallucinations, abnormal behaviors. But it tends to be rare,” Dr. Tina Tan said to CBS Chicago.
“Yes, you need to think about side effects,” she added, “but I think if it has been prescribed for you I think you need to take it.”
These Tamiflu side effects are certainly scary and frightening, but doctors urge not to worry as it only happens very rarely. Nonetheless, forewarned is forearmed!
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