Influenza, and not the antiviral treatment for it, is responsible for increased neuropsychiatric risks in pediatric patients, new research suggested.

The risk for these events was about 50% lower in children treated with oseltamivir (Tamiflu), the most widely prescribed antiviral for influenza, compared to no treatment, investigators found.

Oseltamivir currently carries a warning label about increased risk for neuropsychiatric events, including seizure. However, the label is based on low-quality studies, lead investigator James W. Antoon, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, told Medscape Medical News .

The findings of the study , which Antoon said is the most rigorous of its kind to date, suggest that the warning

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