Monday, October 22, 2007 : 8:30 a.m.

Potential Risks Associated with the Proposed Widespread Use of the Bird Flu Vaccine, Tamiflu

Andrew Singer, Ph.D., Miles Nunn, Ernest Gould and Andrew Johnson, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Oxford

The World Health Organization (WHO) has strongly recommended the use of the antiviral drug Tamiflu in the event of an avian influenza pandemic to minimise human mortality and morbidity. The United Kingdom has stockpiled 14.6 million courses of the drug while the United States continues to amass an 81 million course stockpile. In the event of a pandemic, hundreds of millions of courses of Tamiflu, worldwide, will be rapidly deployed to affected populations. With each dose of Tamiflu, upwards of 80% will be excreted renally in its active antiviral form, oseltamivir carboxylate. Owing to its resistance to biodegradation as well as hydrophilicity, large amounts of oseltamivir carboxylate is predicted to enter riverwaters from sewage treatment works.

 

The likely concentrations of oseltamivir carboxylate released into USA and UK catchments were determined using hydrological modeling and current assumptions about the course and management of an influenza pandemic. Predictions indicate ug/L quantities of the antiviral in many of the catchments, sustained for up to several weeks. A number of environmental and human health risks are likely to arise from this extremely large pulse of antiviral.

 

The industrialized world is now uniquely positioned to respond to pandemic infectious diseases with the widespread use of pharmaceuticals. This capacity to respond is unprecedented, and with it, presents many challenges to scientists and policy makers, necessitating increased confidence and understanding about: (1) drug persistence, biodegradation and transformation in the environment; (2) modeling of likely drug concentrations in the ‘at risk’ catchments; (3) identification of ecotoxicologic risks from the parent drug and its metabolites, as well as effects on infrastructure (i.e., sewage treatment works); and (4) the development of drug resistance.

Andrew Singer, Ph.D., Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Oxford I am a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology investigating the fate, persistence and effect of chemicals in the environment. My PhD is in Soil Science from the University of California, Riverside, where I studied bioremediation and phytoremediation of polychlorinated biphenyl.


6th International Conference on Pharmaceuticals and Enocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water