Azfar Ishaqui1,2,3, Amer Hayat Khan3, Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman3, Muhammad Taher Alsultan1,2, Irfanullah Khan3. 1. Department of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia. 2. King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia. 3. Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to compare the efficacy of antiviral drug alone and antiviral-antibiotic combination therapy in prevention of complications associated with influenza B hospitalized patients. METHOD: Laboratory confirmed influenza B hospitalized patients presented in emergency room after 48 hours of symptoms onset were identified and divided into two groups; Group-1 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) alone while Group-2 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) in combination with Antibiotic for at least 3 days. Patients were evaluated for different clinical outcomes among both treatment group. RESULTS: A total of 153 and 131 patients were identified for Group-1 and Group-2, respectively. Clinical outcomes such as secondary bacterial infections (20.9%-vs-9.1%; P = 0.031), need of respiratory support (28.7%-vs-12.9%; P = 0.002), length of hospitalization stay (6.57-vs-4.95 days; P = <0.001), incidences of ICU admission (15.7%-vs-7.6%; P = 0.036), early clinical failure (32.6%-vs-16.1%; P = 0.01), and time to clinical stability (4.83-vs-4.1 days; P = 0.001) were found to be statistically less significant (P-value <0.05) for Group-2 patients. CONCLUSION: Early initiation of antibiotic therapy in combination with oseltamivir was found to be more efficacious than oseltamivir alone in prevention of influenza B-associated complications especially in high-risk influenza patients.
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to compare the efficacy of antiviral drug alone and antiviral-antibiotic combination therapy in prevention of complications associated with influenza B hospitalized patients. METHOD: Laboratory confirmed influenza B hospitalized patients presented in emergency room after 48 hours of symptoms onset were identified and divided into two groups; Group-1 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) alone while Group-2 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) in combination with Antibiotic for at least 3 days. Patients were evaluated for different clinical outcomes among both treatment group. RESULTS: A total of 153 and 131 patients were identified for Group-1 and Group-2, respectively. Clinical outcomes such as secondary bacterial infections (20.9%-vs-9.1%; P = 0.031), need of respiratory support (28.7%-vs-12.9%; P = 0.002), length of hospitalization stay (6.57-vs-4.95 days; P = <0.001), incidences of ICU admission (15.7%-vs-7.6%; P = 0.036), early clinical failure (32.6%-vs-16.1%; P = 0.01), and time to clinical stability (4.83-vs-4.1 days; P = 0.001) were found to be statistically less significant (P-value <0.05) for Group-2 patients. CONCLUSION: Early initiation of antibiotic therapy in combination with oseltamivir was found to be more efficacious than oseltamivir alone in prevention of influenza B-associated complications especially in high-risk influenza patients.