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Sweden Rationing Tamiflu, Fearing Bird Flu Panic

October 25, 2005
Doctors in Sweden will face a limit on the amount of the antiviral Tamiflu they can acquire for their patients. The government said it is concerned about hoarding by those who fear an outbreak of potentially deadly, human-to-human-transmitted bird flu. Presently, humans can only be infected by diseased birds.

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The Swedish Medical Products Agency, the counterpart to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said fears of a potential pandemic could create a run on Tamiflu, the one antiviral known to currently provide some protection. The agency said it has become alarmed in recent days by doctors placing huge orders for the vaccine.

According to the Swedish government, doctors had only ordered 800 packets of Tamiflu by this time last year. Currently, they’ve ordered 12,000, with the orders still rolling in. From now on, Swedish doctors will be limited to 10 packets of Tamiflu.

According to the World Health Organization, the risk of a pandemic from bird flu is higher than at any time in the last 35 years. They say a pandemic could occur if the virus mutates, allowing it to be transmitted between humans. Currently, people cannot get the virus from an infected person.

Bird flu jitters have increased in Europe over the last week as the virus has been confirmed in birds in Turkey, Romania and Britain. To date, no case has been identified along birds in North America.

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