Tamiflu orders fill pharmacy shelves

Thousands of doses of bird-flu medication are languishing on pharmacy shelves nationwide after the public ordered them in a state of pandemic hysteria but never bothered picking them up.

A year to 18 months ago, New Zealanders were gripped with fear over the possibility of an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird-flu virus.

People clamoured to join waiting lists for the best-known defence against it, the drug Tamiflu.

In November 2005, The Press reported many of the 900 pharmacies nationwide had hundreds of people on the waiting list for Tamiflu and the drug was selling on international internet trading website eBay for up to $NZ260.

However, New Zealand experts say since then the public's fears about bird flu seem to have dimmed – even while the threat of a pandemic remains as real as ever.

Latest international research into the H5N1 virus shows it has mutated and is now present in a form which more readily infects humans.

The H5N1 virus has infected more than 330 people worldwide, including many cases in countries close to New Zealand such as Vietnam and Indonesia, which has the highest number of cases with almost 90 fatalities.

Calculations based on New Zealand's 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak show that more than 160,000 people in Canterbury would get the bird-flu virus in the event of a pandemic and an estimated 3200 people would die.

Pharmacy Guild Canterbury representative Steve Thompson told The Press there were possibly tens of thousands of dollars worth of Tamiflu, or thousands of doses, sitting in pharmacies nationwide.

He had about $2000 worth of the prescription drug in his pharmacy alone.

Between 12 and 18 months ago, people had rushed to place orders for Tamiflu, saying they would wait up to six months for the drug to arrive.

However, interest in bird flu seemed to have waned, Thompson said.

Tamiflu costs about $70 for one course.

Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand president Steve Wise said ironically about a year ago you could not get Tamiflu "for love nor money", but there was now a surplus.

This month, most New Zealand stocks of Tamiflu powder, which is mixed with water for children to take, would expire, he said.

Most Tamiflu capsules would then expire about 2010.

Christchurch virologist Dr Lance Jennings said people should not ignore the threat of avian flu.

Last week, another two people died in Indonesia. The virus was continuing to mutate and spread faster than when it was first contracted by a human in 2003, he said.

"Viruses don't read the newspapers or listen to the radio. Just because people aren't hearing about H5N1 as much as before, that doesn't mean it has gone away."

Jennings believed people could be tired of worrying about the threat of a pandemic.

Tamiflu could be prescribed between May and September to treat seasonal influenza. However, the drug was expensive and there was a good argument for the Government to subsidise it for this purpose.

Because Tamiflu was untested, when a pandemic hit people would be unsure how and when to use the drug, he said.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey told a pandemic planning meeting in Christchurch last week that a strain of Tamiflu-resistant form of H5N1 had been recorded.

However, Humphrey said the drug was definitely worth taking and advised people to get stocks for themselves and their family if they could afford to.

The New Zealand Government has stockpiled more than 1.2 million courses of Tamiflu in case of a pandemic.

- © Fairfax NZ News