Report says Tamiflu stockpile saves money

Toronto -- A Canadian researcher says a stockpile of Tamiflu to cover 65 percent of a country's population could cut a pandemic influenza death toll by half.

Beate Sander of the University of Toronto said treatment with the anti-viral could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death in a pandemic.

The findings were presented at an influenza conference in Toronto, a release said Friday.

Sander said if the stockpile is increased so there is an unlimited supply of Tamiflu for treating symptomatic patients and for preventing infection in people exposed to these patients, illness rates and deaths could be reduced by more than half when compared to no intervention.

"The World Health Organization provides a strong recommendation for the use of Tamiflu for the prevention of avian flu in people who have been in contact with someone who is known, or suspected of being infected with the virus," said Ira Longini, a professor of Biostatistics and Mathematics at the University of Washington, Seattle. "This research suggests that a similar approach may also be an effective strategy in the event of an actual pandemic outbreak."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.