Only one woman suffering from swine flu had to stop taking the antiviral Tamiflu because of side effects, The Times has learnt.
The woman was suffering from acute nausea, a common side effect of the antiviral used to reduce the effects of the influenza H1N1 currently causing a global pandemic.
A local representative for Tamiflu manufacturer Roche said the woman was throwing up after taking the medication. This was confirmed by Health Promotion and Disease Prevention department director Charmaine Gauci.
Dr Gauci said only another two had complained of nausea but they coped with it. The third one who had severe nausea had her medication changed to another antiviral, Relenza.
In Britain, some 150 patients out of thousands who took the drug have reported side effects, most of which were mild and linked with the antiviral developed by Austrian scientist Norbert Bischofberger in 1996.
The numbers of people taking the drug in the UK has skyrocketed since the British government set up a telephone hotline and website allowing patients to obtain treatment without a GP's prescription. More than 150,000 people obtained the drug in the first week that the hotline started operating.
But in Malta, with less than 300 people being given Tamiflu, the drug is not as widely used. This is because the virus is mild and patients are recovering on their own.
Anthony Azzopardi, president of the Association of Private Family Doctors, said only patients considered at risk were being swabbed and tested for swine flu, and even those found to be suffering from influenza A H1N1 did not necessarily have to take Tamiflu. When contacted, Nigel Lightfoot, the chief advisor on emergency preparedness and head of the pandemic influenza programme at the UK's Health Promotion Agency, pointed out that the side effects of Tamiflu were well known and it was not unusual for drugs to have contraindications.
The patient information leaflet found in every packet of the drug lists nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach ache and headache as common side effects. These adverse reactions are normally felt after the first dose but tend to cease afterwards, and Roche's spokesman said they were reduced if the drug was taken with food.
Children aged five to 14 are main targets of swine flu
Children between five and 14 years of age have been the most affected by swine influenza, epidemiologist Gianfranco Spiteri said.
The lowest rates were reported among those over 65, said Dr Spiteri, who works at the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department's Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit.
Almost 200 people have been confirmed to be suffering from swine influenza since the virus was first detected in Malta at the beginning of last month. Most people are recovering within four to five days.
Dr Spiteri said the complications identified were exacerbation of asthma, pneumonia and middle ear inflammation, and dehydration.
They were mostly found in people with a history of underlying disease or children under five, although a person admitted to hospital due to dehydration did not have any underlying conditions.
Two children are currently in hospital for monitoring.