Doubling Dosage of Tamiflu Has No Benefit in Severe Flu

Patients given a double dose of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to treat their severe influenza saw no added benefit when compared with those given a regular dose, researchers found. 

To test the validity of recommendations calling for increased dosage of oseltamivir in severe cases of the flu, researchers randomly assigned 246 children under 15 years old and 80 adults to double (150 mg twice a day/pediatric equivalent) or single (75 mg twice a day/pediatric equivalent) doses of oseltamivir. All study subjects had been admitted to a hospital in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, or Vietnam with confirmed influenza. 

Nasal and throat swabs for viral RNA conducted on the fifth day of treatment were negative for influenza in 72.3% of double-dose patients and 68.2% of single-dose patients.  When researchers limited their findings to children, results were negative in 71% of double- and 67% of single-dose patients.  

“Double dose oseltamivir was well tolerated but did not confer additional virological or clinical benefits over standard dose treatment in patients in South East Asia,” researchers wrote. “These findings have implications for both clinical management of severe influenza and for pandemic preparedness of emerging influenza viruses including the current H7N9 epidemic,” the researchers concluded. 

–Michael Potts

Reference

Effect of double dose oseltamivir on clinical and virological outcomes in children and adults admitted to hospital with severe influenza: double blind randomised controlled trial.  BMJ.  2013;346:f3039. http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f3039. Published May 30, 2013. Accessed June 6, 2013.