to withhold Tamiflu from a 7mo baby?

[daisyj]

Took dd to doc as she has had a temp and cough on and off for around 10 days. I thought teething (as she is cutting teeth 3, 4 and 5 right now), but she is very miserable and I thought I'd better rule out anything else just in case. Doc thinks she has a virus but has prescribed antibiotics and Tamiflu anyway.

Appointment was this evening, so I haven't been able to pick up meds yet. I am tempted to get both but start her on the antibiotics tomorrow and see how she is in two or three days time before starting the Tamiflu.

Anyone else given Tamiflu to a baby, and how did they react? Would it be wrong to withhold it from her if the doctor has prescribed it? Given the symptoms recorded in younger children and how little information there seems to be about the effects of babies, I'm a bit concerned. Would it be unreasonable of me not to leap into giving it to her?

I'm surprised that the doc prescribed both antibs and tamiflu if he suspected a virus. Why did they prescribe the antibiotics?

What is her temp?

I thought that tamiflu only worked if it was taken very soon after the first symptoms. For what it's worth, my friend gave her 7 month old tamiflu on the advice of her doctor, and the baby completely lost her appetite and hardly slept until they stopped giving it to her.

If she was mine I'd treat the symptoms and wait for it to get better.

Yep, my Tamiflu instructions say to take it within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

If it's a virus, neither antibiotics or Tamiflu are gonna be much use surely?!!
Go with your instincts. I just had similar thing with DS, really bad cough and temp up and down, stuck to my instincts as didn't think it was chest infection, and he is fine now.
Does temp go down with calpol?

Thanks so much everyone. This is confirming what I thought (although I am quite happy to be put straight if IABU). I did question prescribing antibiotics for a virus, but the doctor said he couldn't be sure it wasn't a bacterial infection so he was prescribing them to allow for that.

She's currently sleeping but moaning softly from time to time. I got her up about half an hour ago to take her temp - still 102/39.5 approx). Gave some more Calpol to hopefully bring it down a little, and think I will sleep in her room tonight. Getting a bit worried about her having a temp for so many days (not constantly but on and off), but I gather that teething really can cause really bad fluey symptoms, so hope it is just that.

If the calpol is bringing it down I wouldn't worry too much.Teething takes on a lot of forms. Every time my DS was bad I just had one day of fever, but then he would be really sick, which was so unusual for him. Did the doc check her throat? Sometimes they don't cos it's a bit uncomfortable, but once it looked like doc wasn't going to check, and i asked him to and he had throat infection.

I might have got the wrong end of the stick here, but are you taking the advice from strangers on the internet over the advice and medication given to you by your daughters Doctor?

I'm sure the advice here is well meaning, and you want to do your best by your LO, but doesn't your Dr have your DDs medical notes and have their medical training and experience behind them? I'm not saying the doctor right or wrong, because I'm not a trained medical professional, but if you're worried about your DD would the best thing to do is get a second medical opinion?

Rantagonist. I do agree with your point and have already phoned my dad, who's a pharmacist, to see what he thought about the potential side-effects. Also called NHS direct as I'm worried that her temp isn't going down. They took a note of her symptoms and also noted my concerns about the Tamiflu, and a nurse is due to call me back any minute. I was just hoping that posting here would also give me a general picture.

I think in this case even the professionals are weighing up the pros and cons and where one GP might prescribe Tamiflu for a 7mo another might not, iyswim.

Fair enough Rantagonist,but sometimes you just want another parent's opinion. Tamiflu and indeed antiobiotics are a bit controversial.

Thanks again, all. NHS direct nurse referred me to local after-hours service, who seem to think mums know best (who knew!), and that it would be OK to give her another 24 hours before medicating her up to the eyeballs. DD also seems a little cooler now and is sleeping more peacefully.