Antiviral research
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Oseltamivir-zanamivir bitherapy compared to oseltamivir monotherapy in the treatment of pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus infections.
The emergence of oseltamivir resistance in 2007 highlighted the need for alternative strategies against influenza. To limit the putative emergence of resistant viruses this clinical trial aimed to evaluate the antiviral efficacy and tolerability of oseltamivir-zanamivir (O+Z) bitherapy compared to oseltamivir monotherapy (O). This clinical trial was designed in 2008-2009 and was conducted during the A(H1N1) influenza virus pandemic in 2009-2010. The A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses were reported to be sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir but resistant to amantadine. ⋯ The sample size of our study is too limited to be fully informative and we could not detect whether combination therapy (O+Z) improves or reduces the effectiveness of oseltamivir in the treatment of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus infection in community patients. Additional studies are needed to improve the antiviral treatment of patients infected with influenza virus.