Antiviral Treatment for Patients Hospitalized with 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1)

Abstract

With the 2009 H1N1 pandemic well under way, many clinicians are providing care to patients with influenza. Previously, although antiviral treatment was recommended,^1,2 clinicians may not always have prescribed it to patients hospitalized with seasonal influenza, perhaps because of a perception that antiviral treatment had limited benefit. Controlled trials conducted among outpatients with uncomplicated seasonal influenza reported a reduction of approximately 1 day in the duration of illness and reduced severity when antiviral treatment was initiated within 48 hours of illness onset, as compared with placebo. However, evidence from observational studies supports the benefit of neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir or zanamivir) in reducing complications, including deaths, among hospitalized patients with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1).