Oseltamivir

Patients hospitalized with influenza and treated with oseltamivir on the day of admission were less likely to experience severe clinical outcomes compared with those who were treated later, researchers found.

A novel combination of neuraminidase mutations detected in influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses on several continents has left these viruses less susceptible to treatment with oseltamivir, researchers found.

Early use of oseltamivir in hospitalized children with influenza led to better outcomes, according to the results of a large study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

In a new study, most patients with community-acquired pneumonia did not receive testing for influenza, even during influenza season, researchers reported in Chest.

Inhaled zanamivir was noninferior to oral oseltamivir in preventing severe influenza-related outcomes in a study of more than 865,000 outpatients in Taiwan, researchers reported in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Researchers said four cases of oseltamivir-resistant influenza A(H1N1) were detected at a border detention center in Texas with hemagglutinin that belong to a subclade that may enable viral escape from pre-existing immunity.

Patients with influenza-like illness who tested positive for coronaviruses besides SARS-CoV-2 and received oseltamivir plus usual care recovered faster than patients who received only usual care, according to researchers.

In a small study conducted in China, many patients with mild cases of COVID-19 infection continued to test positive for the virus up to 8 day after their symptoms had resolved, according to a research letter published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Influenza remains an important threat to public health, and people with impaired immune systems are at particularly high risk for severe disease and complications. One comparative analysis showed that severely immunocompromised patients with influenza experienced significantly more hospitalizations, ICU admissions and mechanical ventilation than nonimmunocompromised patients. However, clinical signs and symptoms may be pronounced on initial presentation, underscoring the importance of seeking early medical attention. Additionally, antiviral resistance is more common and the mean viral shedding time was longer among immunocompromised patients (19 days compared with 6.4 days in healthy people).

Oseltamivir for influenza prophylaxis is a consideration for health care workers at high risk for developing influenza, including those who decline vaccination, but it comes with some challenges, researchers reported in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.