Flu Drug Cuts Antibiotic Use
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- You'll be less likely to suffer influenza complications requiring the use of an antibiotic if you take a new flu drug within the first couple of days of coming down with the illness.
That's the finding from a new study that compared results among more than 3,500 adults and adolescents who were given either the pill oseltamivir within two days of getting a flu-like illness or a placebo pill. All were also tested to see if they truly had the flu or if their illness was from another cause.
Results showed oseltamivir reduced the need for antibiotics for any reason by nearly 27 percent among those who tested positive for the flu. Those with confirmed influenza who took the drug also had 55-percent fewer influenza-related lower respiratory tract complications including bronchitis or pneumonia that required antibiotic treatment. Hospitalizations for influenza complications were lower in the oseltamivir group as well. The positive effects of the drug were seen in both otherwise healthy individuals and those considered at high risk for flu complications, such as the elderly and those with other medical conditions.
By contrast, rates of antibiotic use, influenza complications, and hospitalizations were similar among the two treatment groups in people who were found not to have influenza.
These results are encouraging, report the researchers, because statistics show influenza complications lead to more than 36,000 deaths every year.
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SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2003;163:1667-1672
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