Urgent swine flu question/dd aged 12 years/tamiflu

[lisalisa]

Please help if you can.

My dd aged 12.5 yrs has swine flu. She has had it for 2 full days now and her temp is not coming down ( save for half an hour here and there) with nurofen and paractemol.

She has tried taking tamiflu but keeps vomiting it out.

She can take down liquids for a short while.

Does she need to take Tamiflu in order to get better or will it run its course and she'll be better naturally in a few days?

At what point does swine flu become dangerous and need hosptial attention? I have read the pandemic flu websites etc but they don't really gtive any serious marker indications other than difficulty breathing which dd doesn't have/

thanks

Sorry to hear your dd is so bad. From what I gather about Tamiflu(everyone in our house had to take it except me as I'm pregnant so got different meds) it can have bad side affects,the main one being upset tummy.apparently adults are more likely to get the side affects than children.
It does say in the leaflet that even if you get the side affects you should really finish the course but Tamiflu is only to reduce the symptoms of flu and shorten the length of it by a day or two so I don't think it's essential to take it to get better.The main thing is to keep her hydrated,especially if she is being sick.If she is no better by tommorrow i would be tempted to ring out of hours G.P or NHS direct

Hi LisaLisa,

Sorry your DD is poorly. No, she doesn't need the tamiflu to get better all is can do , at best , is reduce some of the symptoms and reduce the length of the illness by about 24 hours.

If she cannot tolerate it, and it is well known for causing vomiting , then rest, fluids , paracetamol/ibuprofen will help her.

If she is otherwise fit and healthy then she will more then likely fight the virus off naturally with no ill effects.

if she stops drinking, becomes unresponsive, develops a non blanching rash then seek help.

The symptoms are much as regualr flu and, while nasty, shouldn't have long term effects.

One last thing, if in doubt get her seen or seek advice from your GP

my DD has just been diagnosed with this and she just turned 12. shes had it for a couple of days now and tbh i was wondering if she actually NEEDED the tamiflu? might try it but if it causes vomiting ill take her straight off it.