A note on oseltamivir treatment in a boy with G6PD deficiency.

During the pandemic influenza A, a five-year-old boy was admitted to the hospital with the complaints of high fever, cough and sneezing. Influenza virus analysis from the nasopharyngeal discharge was positive for influenza A virus. The patient previously had an acute hemolytic attack after eating fava beans, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency was later established. As he had proven influenza A virus, oseltamivir was started at a dose of 45 mg twice daily for five days. He was completely normal after treatment. No hemolytic anemia occurred during oseltamivir treatment. G6PD deficiency is an X-linked inherited disease. A child with G6PD deficiency is clinically and hematologically normal during his life, but in a situation of ‘oxidative challenge’, caused by either fava beans or by certain drugs, acute hemolytic anemia occurs. Thus, several drugs should be avoided in G6PDdeficient subjects. Oseltamivir has not been tested on G6PD-deficient subjects, and G6PD-deficient individuals have been excluded from testing in ongoing studies. It is well known that G6PD deficiency is not rare in the Turkish population [1]. This case is reported in order to share experience, since there has been no report on the clinical usage of oseltamivir or any safety data regarding its usage in G6PDdeficient subjects. More data are necessary to reach a conclusion regarding the safety of oseltamivir therapy in G6PD-deficient individuals.