![]() It may also work centrally (through the brain) to lower temperature. However, a Cochrane review suggests oseltamivir reduces symptoms of influenza by inhibiting the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines which reduces the immune response. The manufacturer suggests oseltamivir works by inhibiting viral neuraminidase, an enzyme that enables viruses to be released from their host cell. Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is an antiviral agent that may be used to treat acute and uncomplicated infections due to influenza A or B viruses in people who have been symptomatic for no more than 48 hours.Tamiflu is a brand (trade) name for oseltamivir.Otherwise, for normally healthy people, deciding whether to take an antiviral comes down to whether getting better about a day quicker is more important than the possibility of the drug’s side effects.Medically reviewed by Carmen Fookes, BPharm. If you have a loved one in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility, he or she should also receive an antiviral if there’s a flu outbreak there, even if he or she isn’t sick.Īccording to the CDC, if at least two residents get the flu within three days of each other, everyone should get a drug such as Tamiflu for at least two weeks and continue for at least a week after the last case has been identified.Īnd if you have elderly or infirm people living with you at home, some evidence suggests that taking an antiviral could help prevent you from spreading the flu to them, Hochman says. In addition, “if anyone’s sick enough to already need to be in the hospital, and they come down with the flu, they absolutely should be on one,” Bouvier says. (Note that because Relenza is inhaled, it shouldn’t be taken by anyone with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.) This includes people older than 65, children ages 5 and younger-especially those younger than 2-pregnant people, those up to two weeks postpartum, and people who live in nursing homes. ![]() “By the time most people drag themselves out of bed to see the doctor, they’re on the road to recovery already,” says Nicole Bouvier, MD, an infectious disease specialist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.īut many experts, including those at the CDC, say that people at high risk for flu complications should take an antiviral medication. That’s because you’ll most likely get better on your own within one to two weeks using self-care strategies, such as resting, getting plenty of fluids, and taking over-the-counter pain relievers for fever, headache, and muscle aches. If you’re in good health and come down with the flu, you don’t necessarily need Tamiflu or another antiviral medication. (There’s more on antiviral side effects below.) Still, for people at a higher risk of flu complications, the potential protective benefit of an antiviral probably outweighs the risks of side effects, Hochman says. The Cochrane review, for example, didn’t find evidence that antivirals reduced the risk of severe flu complications. For example, a 2021 analysis in the journal Health Science Reports found that oseltamivir could reduce the risk of severe illness specifically among people with chronic heart and lung conditions.īut the evidence “is not crystal clear about the prevention of those serious complications,” says Michael Hochman, MD, MPH, director of the Gehr Family Center for Health Systems Science and Innovation at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. Some research suggests that taking an antiviral can help reduce the likelihood that the flu will become severe enough to require hospitalization or lead to death, especially for those at high risk for flu complications. ![]() They also had significantly less virus shedding, which means they were much less likely to spread the illness to others. ![]() One 2013 CDC study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that children given oseltamivir within five days of getting sick experienced an improvement in symptoms. There may be some benefit in taking antivirals even outside of that 48-hour window. A 2014 Cochrane review found that when given within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms-such as fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, and chills-oseltamivir lessened the sick time for adults by about 17 hours and for children by 29 hours. ![]()
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