Preparing for Flu Outbreaks: Antiviral Drugs Alone Will Not Suffice

How effective would anti-influenza drugs — the M2 inhibitors amantadine and rimantadine, and the newer neuraminidase inhibitors zanamivir and oseltamivir — be in a pandemic? Should they be used widely in nonpandemic seasonal influenza outbreaks? These investigators reviewed 53 randomized controlled trials of these agents in otherwise healthy adults. Amantadine, compared with placebo, prevented 61% of cases of influenza …