My 14th day on Oseltamivir

I started taking Oseltamivir as a prophylaxis against swine flu from 31st of August. My plan was to stop the drug by 9th of September as recommended in the WHO site. As I was nearing completion of my drug course, I got exposed to another case of H1N1. The story goes like this

Since clear case definition is not possible in case of H1N1, most of the cases are categorized and isolated. Severe fever and respiratory distress in children has to be suspected to be H1N1 even if no clear history of contact with H1N1 is available.

The child to whom I was exposed was a girl, who had no history of contact or travel abroad.But the troat swab taken from the child came out strongly positive. Even though I wore a mask during my discussion with the parents and the child, I was adviced to take Oseltamivir. Since I was already taking Oseltamivir, I had to start day 1 from day 10. So now my course of Oseltamivir is extended up to Sept 19.

Adverse effects

I had mild head ache and gastric irritation on taking Oseltamivir.My headache was relieved on drinking water(psychological). Some clinical trials show that, there is increased chances of depression and self harm. I had mild depression at the start of medicine, which soon disappeared.

[nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and headache. Rare ADRs include: hepatitis and elevated liver enzymes, rash, allergic reactions including anaphylaxis, and Stevens-Johnson syndrome.Various other ADRs have been reported in postmarketing surveillance including: toxic epidermal necrolysis, cardiac arrhythmia, seizure, confusion, aggravation of diabetes, and haemorrhagic colitis.]