Influenza - Related Resources

Cochrane reviews

Influenza vaccines appear to have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost in healthy adults, but there is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Adults.
Influenza vaccines are efficacious in children older than two years but little evidence is available for children under two Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Children.
Neuraminidase inhibitors are effective in shortening illness duration and hastening return to normal activity in previously healthy children with a clinical or laboratory diagnosis of influenza Neuraminidase Inhibitors for Preventing and Treating Influenza in Children.
Influenza vaccine seems unlikely to worsen asthma, but research is needed to determine whether asthma attacks are prevented by influenza vaccination Influenza Vaccination in Asthma: Efficacy and Side Effects.
Paediatric oncology patients receiving chemotherapy appear to be able to generate an immune response to the influenza vaccine. However, it remains unclear whether this immune response protects them from influenza infection or its complications Influenza Vaccination in Children Being Treated with Chemotherapy for Cancer.

Other evidence summaries

Early use of neuraminidase inhibitors in patients with severe H1N1 pandemic influenza may decrease admissions to intensive care units and improve survival Use of Neuraminidase Inhibitors in Patients with 2009 Pandemic Influenza (H1n1).
The protection rate against influenza appers not to decrease over years when vaccination is given annually Protection Against Influenza after Annually Repeated Vaccination.

Literature

Glezen WP. Clinical practice. Prevention and treatment of seasonal influenza. N Engl J Med 2008 Dec 11;359(24):2579-85. [PubMed]
Gambotto A, Barratt-Boyes SM, de Jong MD, Neumann G, Kawaoka Y. Human infection with highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus. Lancet 2008 Apr 26;371(9622):1464-75. [PubMed]
Management of Influenza in the Southern Hemisphere Trialists Study Group. Randomised trial of efficacy and dafety of inhaled zanamivir in treatment of influenza A and B virus infection. Lancet 1998;352:1877-1881
Nicholson KG, Aoki FY, Osterhaus AD, Trottier S, Carewicz O, Mercier CH, Rode A, Kinnersley N, Ward P. Efficacy and safety of oseltamivir in treatment of acute influenza: a randomised controlled trial. Neuraminidase Inhibitor Flu Treatment Investigator Group. Lancet 2000 May 27;355(9218):1845-50. [PubMed]
Kaiser L, Keene ON, Hammond JM, Elliott M, Hayden FG. Impact of zanamivir on antibiotic use for respiratory events following acute influenza in adolescents and adults. Arch Intern Med 2000 Nov 27;160(21):3234-40. [PubMed]
Cox NJ, Subbarao K. Influenza. Lancet 1999 Oct 9;354(9186):1277-82. [PubMed]
Heikkinen T, Silvennoinen H, Peltola V, Ziegler T, Vainionpaa R, Vuorinen T, Kainulainen L, Puhakka T, Jartti T, Toikka P, Lehtinen P, Routi T, Juven T. Burden of influenza in children in the community. J Infect Dis 2004 Oct 15;190(8):1369-73. [PubMed]
Moscona A. Neuraminidase inhibitors for influenza. N Engl J Med 2005 Sep 29;353(13):1363-73. [PubMed]
Rothberg MB, Haessler SD, Brown RB. Complications of viral influenza. Am J Med 2008 Apr;121(4):258-64. [PubMed]

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References

Influenza - Related Resources

Cochrane reviews

Other evidence summaries

Literature