IF YOU think your kid has swine flu, should you dose them up with antiviral drugs? Parents in the UK may be justifiably confused. While the government sticks to its “safety first” strategy of making antivirals available to all, a study published this week concludes that treating children under 12 with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) has little effect (BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b3172).
The drugs shorten the duration of disease by only a day or so, and decrease by only 8 per cent the chance that an infected child will spread the virus to others. “The effect is fairly small…
