A Brown University study found that administering preventive antiviral treatment to a large share of nursing home residents during a flu outbreak was linked to 21% fewer hospitalizations.
The study, published March 30 in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed 404 influenza outbreaks in 318 U.S. nursing homes, which included almost 30,000 residents. Researchers compared facilities that administered oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to at least 70% of residents within 2 days of outbreak detection with those that did not.
Researchers found that prompt administration of Tamiflu reduced hospitalizations but was not associated with a significant difference in mortality.
“While the study doesn’t mean that every single resident should get prophylaxis automatically, because clinical judgment still matters, it’s definitely important to treat fast and extensively,” senior author Andrew Zullo, PharmD, PhD, said in a March 31 news release from Providence, R.I.-based Brown University. “Not every resident necessarily has to receive it for there to be a benefit. It’s similar to vaccination in that you can limit viral transmission if enough people get oseltamivir.”
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