The following is a summary of “Household influenza transmission and healthcare resource utilization among patients treated with Baloxavir vs Oseltamivir: A United States outpatient prospective survey,” published in the March 2024 issue of Infectious Diseases by Best et al.
Limited real-world evidence in outpatient settings in the USA hampers understanding of the impact of influenza treatment on household transmission and healthcare resource utilization despite its broad medical, economic, and social ramifications.
Researchers conducted a prospective study to examine the effectiveness of baloxavir and oseltamivir in reducing influenza household transmission and healthcare resource utilization.
They used an electronic survey on patient-reported outcomes via CVS Pharmacy between October 2022 and May 2023. Eligible adults (≥18 years) who filled a prescription for baloxavir or oseltamivir within 2 days of flu symptoms reported demographics, household transmission, and healthcare resource use, which were analyzed using χ2 and Fisher exact tests.
Results studied surveys filled by 286 eligible patients out of 87,871 contacted patients. About 90 were treated with baloxavir and 196 with oseltamivir. The mean age of patients was 45.4 years, and females were 65.6%, with the majority (86.7%) being white. Compared with oseltamivir therapy, Baloxavir showed lower household transmission (17.8% vs 26.5%, relative risk = 0.67, 95% CI 0.41-1.11). Healthcare resource use and emergency department visits were also lower in the baloxavir-treated group (0.0% vs 4.6%), with no hospitalizations reported.
Investigators concluded that antiviral treatment with baloxavir may decrease household transmission and reduce healthcare resource utilization compared with oseltamivir.
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40121-024-00937-y
