Can We Prevent Inpatient Deaths Caused by Severe Influenza?

Combined therapy with a macrolide, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and a neuraminidase inhibitor helped.

As many as 500,000 influenza deaths occur worldwide annually, with unpredictable outbreaks and no therapeutic interventions that improve outcomes other than symptom duration (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 1 2015 and Lancet 2015; 385:1729). Hong Kong investigators evaluated whether oseltamivir, combined with clarithromycin and naproxen — which have in vitro activity against influenza — benefitted hospitalized patients with confirmed influenza A(H3N2).

In this single-center, open-label, randomized clinical trial, 217 patients (median age, 80) with confirmed influenza A and radiography-confirmed infiltrates who presented within 72 hours of symptom onset were randomized to either clarithromycin plus naproxen plus oseltamivir (for 2 days, followed by 3 day…

Reviewing Author

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, SFHM, FACP

Disclosures

RoyaltiesMcGraw-Hill; Elsevier

Editorial BoardsMedical Clinics of North America; Caribbean Medical Journal International Advisory Panel (2021–2026)

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, SFHM, FACP

Disclosures

RoyaltiesMcGraw-Hill; Elsevier

Editorial BoardsMedical Clinics of North America; Caribbean Medical Journal International Advisory Panel (2021–2026)

Can We Prevent Inpatient Deaths Caused by Severe Influenza?

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Reviewing Author