Effectiveness of early oseltamivir treatment in children with pandemic 2009 A/H1N1 influenza in the Vilnius University Children Hospital

Background. Oseltamivir is recommended for treatment of pandemic influenza in children. The therapy should be started as soon as possible, however, data on the effectiveness of such a treatment is rather limited. This study was accomplished in order to evaluate the effectiveness of oseltamivir depen...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vytautas Usonis, Irena Narkevičiūtė, Vilija Guntaitė
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Vilnius University Press 2013-01-01
Series:Acta Medica Lituanica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/21529
Description
Summary:Background. Oseltamivir is recommended for treatment of pandemic influenza in children. The therapy should be started as soon as possible, however, data on the effectiveness of such a treatment is rather limited. This study was accomplished in order to evaluate the effectiveness of oseltamivir depending on the time of the beginning of treatment. Materials and methods. Medical records of 72 children hospitalised to the Vilnius University Children’s Hospital (VUCH) because of laboratory confirmed pandemic influenza during November–December 2009 were analysed retrospectively. Duration of fever and frequency of complications in children treated with oseltamivir starting on days 1–2 and those who were started to treat ≥day 3 from the beginning of flu symptoms were compared to those who did not receive oseltamivir. Results. 40 patients were treated with oseltamivir: 20 children were commenced on treatment within 48 hours of their illness and the other 20 were started on oseltamivir on day 3 or later. 32 children were not treated with oseltamivir. Fever lasted 2.1 ± 0.8 days if the treatment with oseltamivir was started within 48 hours of illness and 4.1 ± 1.9 days if the treatment was started later (p 
ISSN:1392-0138
2029-4174