My first H&P was a 4 year old girl presenting with cough, sore throat and fever. A rapid flu test confirmed the diagnosis of influenza A. It’s common in the pediatric population, especially for infants to prescribe Oseltamivir as long as it’s within the symptom period of 48 hours. The article I found is a New England Journal of Medicine which discusses preventing and controlling influenza with available interventions. The article states that those who are at a higher risk should be treated with Oseltamivir which is a neuraminidase inhibitor – this includes children under 2 years of age, asthmatics, the elderly, pregnant women and immunocompromised patients. According to an RCT, oseltamivir may reduce fever and illness duration by approximately 1 day. However, there is a lot of resistance of influenza A virus to oseltamivir and so it is best to prevent the virus all together by getting vaccinated and ensuring proper hygiene such as hand washing during the influenza season.
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