Influenza Virus Vaccine Live/Selected Antiviral Agents
This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional before taking or discontinuing any drug or commencing any course of treatment.
Medical warning:
Severe. These medicines may interact and cause very harmful effects and are usually not taken together. Contact your healthcare professional (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) for more information.
How the interaction occurs:
Amantadine, oseltamivir, rimantadine, and zanamivir may inactivate the vaccine before your body can develop immunity to the influenza virus.
What might happen:
You may not develop immunity to the influenza virus if it is administered with or within 48 hours of using amantadine, oseltamivir, rimantadine, or zanamivir or if you take amantadine, rimantadine, or zanamivir within 2 weeks of receiving the intranasal influenza vaccine.
What you should do about this interaction:
Let your healthcare professionals (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) know before you receive the intranasal influenza vaccine if you have taken amantadine, rimantadine, or zanamivir in the previous 48 hours. If you have received the intranasal influenza vaccine in the previous two weeks, let your healthcare professional know before you start amantadine, oseltamivir, rimantadine, or zanamivir.Your healthcare professionals may already be aware of this interaction and may be monitoring you for it. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.
References:
1.Symmetrel (amantadine hydrochloride) US prescribing information. Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. January, 2009.
2.Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) US prescribing information. Roche Laboratories, Inc. December, 2012.
3.Flumadine (rimantadine hydrochloride) US prescribing information. Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. April, 2010.
4.Relenza (zanamivir) US prescribing information. GlaxoSmithKline December, 2011.
5.FluMist (influenza virus vaccine live, intranasal) US prescribing information. MedImmune LLC July, 2010.





