The analysis of efficacy of early antiviral drug use in flu
Sel'kova E.P., Grenkova T.A., Lapitskaya A.S., Gudova N.V., Oganesyan A.S.

The G.N. Gabrichevskiy Moscow Scientific Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology

Pharmacoepidemiology studies efficacy, safety, and use of drugs at the population level. The paper discusses the results of retrospective analysis of pharmacoepidemiological case-control studies in Russian Federation. The relevance of prescription of etiotropic antiviral therapy against influenza virus and its efficacy in patients with flu who were admitted to hospital in 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2014-2015 epidemic seasons were assessed. Case reports of 5,546 patients were analyzed. Objective data on domestic clinical practice of flu treatment were obtained. Only a fifth of patients received pre-admission antiviral therapy. Most patients were admitted to hospital just on the third day of the disease. Late admission to the hospital prolonged hospital stay by on average 1 day. Early antiviral therapy in the hospital was prescribed in less than a half of patients. Correlation between flu clinical manifestations and viral load requires early use of specific antiviral drugs which inhibit viral replication. Early etiotropic therapy (umifenovir, oseltamivir) reduces overall duration of the disease by 2 or 3 days and minimizes complication risk.

Key words: pharmacoepidemiology, flu, risk factors, etiotropic therapy, efficacy, WHO, sensitivity, infectious diseases, epidemic upsurge, incidence, antiviral drugs, circulation of various serotypes, influenza virus A subtypes H3N2 and H1N1, risk groups of infection.

For citation: Sel'kova E.P., Grenkova T.A., Lapitskaya A.S. et al. The analysis of efficacy of early antiviral drug use in flu // RMJ. 2016. № 21. P. 1431–1434.