Antiviral Treatment for Influenza During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, consequences of influenza are more likely to be severe. Such increased mortality and morbidity associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infections prompted recommendations for wider use of antivirals in pregnant women with influenza-like illness. However, safety data on M2 ion channel inhibitors (amantadine and rimantadine) and neuraminidase inhibitors (oseltamivir and zanamivir) during pregnancy are limited. To assess potential adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes after antiviral treatment, investigators at a large Texas hospital retrospectively compared medical records from 239 pregnant women who received antiviral therapy for confirmed influenza with those of 79,549 women without influenza in the hospita…