It, perhaps, is the first case of Tamiflu — the antiviral administered for Influenza A H1N1 — showing adverse reaction. State rapid response team member Dr Ravindra Katti has been strictly advised to stay at home for at least a week. Doctors at Sassoon General Hospital have put him on anti-depressants.
Katti, a key government health official engaged in handling the epidemic situation in Pune, has been suffering from severe mood swings, impulsiveness and irritability. Dr AC Mishra, director of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), said this was “a very rare case”, hence there was no need to panic. “Before this, we have not come across a single case of adverse reaction to Tamiflu in India,” he said.
Katti, who is being treated by Dr Alka Pawar, director of the Pune-based Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health (MIMH), admitted to DNA that he was facing adverse reaction of the drug. “I am very tense. I am on Tamiflu as part of chemoprophylaxis.”
Pawar said that Katti had been initially advised to get himself admitted to Sassoon General Hospital. “Later, we told him to remain strictly at home,” Pawar said, adding she had a detailed discussion with Dr Arun Jamkar, dean of the Sassoon hospital, and Dr Renu Bharadwaj, head of the hospital’s microbiology department, in this regard.
Jamkar said that Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) was known to show neuro-psychiatric reaction to a very small population. “Some others administered the anti-viral have complained of nausea, diarrhoea,” he said. Doctors at Sassoon said that Katti had been taking Tamiflu since last Monday.
DNA reported last week that two key government officials handling the swine flu epidemic in Pune were quarantined. One was joint director of health services (infectious diseases) Dr HH Chavan, in charge of the control cell for H1N1, who tested positive for the virus. Additional municipal commissioner MS Devnikar, who was handling the coordination committee for H1N1, was home quarantined after his wife had tested positive.
