Who wants test done on Tamiflu

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GENEVA, March 17 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Friday for urgent studies to determine optimal doses of flu drug Tamiflu to be used in the fight against human bird flu. 
It reaffirmed that Tamiflu should be used to treat suspected cases and to prevent the disease in healthcare workers or others who may have been exposed to infection, but clinical trials were lacking to show any effectiveness against the deadly H5N1 virus. 
The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 98 people, roughly half of the 177 who have contracted it since late 2003, but experts fear a pandemic if the disease evolves into a form which can be transmitted easily between humans. 
Swiss drug maker Roche <<ROG.VX> said on Thursday it was boosting output of Tamiflu, whose generic name is oseltamivir, by a third to meet increased demand from governments building stockpiles for a potential pandemic triggered by bird flu. 
"There is no direct clinical trial evidence that shows that oseltamivir is effective in human H5N1 disease because such studies have not yet been conducted," the WHO said in a statement posted on its Web site www.who.int. 

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Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Who wants test done on Tamiflu Posted: March 17 2006 at 12:13pm
	http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17735251.htm MORE GENEVA, March 17 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on Friday for urgent studies to determine optimal doses of flu drug Tamiflu to be used in the fight against human bird flu. It reaffirmed that Tamiflu should be used to treat suspected cases and to prevent the disease in healthcare workers or others who may have been exposed to infection, but clinical trials were lacking to show any effectiveness against the deadly H5N1 virus. The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 98 people, roughly half of the 177 who have contracted it since late 2003, but experts fear a pandemic if the disease evolves into a form which can be transmitted easily between humans. Swiss drug maker Roche <<ROG.VX> said on Thursday it was boosting output of Tamiflu, whose generic name is oseltamivir, by a third to meet increased demand from governments building stockpiles for a potential pandemic triggered by bird flu. "There is no direct clinical trial evidence that shows that oseltamivir is effective in human H5N1 disease because such studies have not yet been conducted," the WHO said in a statement posted on its Web site www.who.int.