Children who started an influenza antiviral within 48 hours of their first symptoms had an 81 percent lower adjusted risk of influenza-related hospitalization than children whose treatment was delayed or never given, according to a new multicenter analysis of pediatric outpatients.
The finding, published in Pediatrics, addresses a gap that has frustrated pediatricians for years. Randomized trials have shown that prompt oseltamivir shortens illness by roughly a day and reduces ear infections in young children, but evidence on whether early treatment actually keeps children out of the hospital has been thin.
