Psychiatric symptoms during oseltamivir treatment.

I found the recent report that appeared in your publication entitled Psychiatric symptom during oseltamivir treatment to be extremely interesting. Lan et al concluded that “the possibility that oseltamivir can cause psychotic or affective symptoms suggests that additional caution is necessary for its use in patients with an established psychiatric diagnosis.” In fact, oseltamivir is considered to be an effective and safe antiviral drug. Focusing on the neuropsychiatric problems that can arise due to oseltamivir treatment, Wiwanitkit reported that the above-referenced troubling symptoms are uncommon. Similarly, Smith and Sacks also found that there was no increased risk of neuropsychiatric disorder when oseltamivir was used. Furthermore, Toovey et al performed a meta-analysis and concluded that the incidence of problems in influenza patients receiving oseltamivir was not higher than in those who did not receive the drug, and there was no mechanism by which oseltamivir or oseltamivir carboxylate could induce neuropsychiatric problems. In the present report, it is questionable whether the exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms is only a coincidence.