Use of the medications oseltamivir and baloxavir marboxil to prevent or treat flu

The antiviral medicines oseltamivir and baloxavir marboxil are approved for the prevention and treatment of flu (influenza A and B). A decision will be taken on whether the existing pandemic stockpile of oseltamivir should be retained or potentially replaced with the antiviral medicines baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir).

This report provides a systematic evaluation of multiple studies on the efficacy and safety of oseltamivir and baloxavir. To this end, a systematic literature search of various databases was carried out and the studies were evaluated in their entirety. For both medicines, the risk of flu-like symptoms or of the flu causing further health problems fell from 13% to 8% with oseltamivir and from 10% to 3% with baloxavir in comparison with a placebo. In addition, the time to alleviation of symptoms was one day shorter and antibiotic use was reduced. The meaningfulness of the results was of average quality for oseltamivir, but of low quality for baloxavir. The studies included hardly reported on mortality or hospitalisation. Side effects were rare for all medicines used. When taken to prevent influenza, oseltamivir reduced the risk of flu from 14% to 8% and baloxavir from 13% to 2% compared to placebo. The meaningfulness of the study results was of low quality for both medicines. The studies included hardly reported on mortality or hospitalisation. Side effects were rare for all medicines used. There were also no studies on the transmission of flu viruses to contact persons.

The report concludes that treatment with oseltamivir or baloxavir reduces the risk of flu-like symptoms. In addition, the time to alleviation of symptoms is shorter and antibiotic use is reduced. The meaningfulness of the study results was average for oseltamivir and low for baloxavir. Prevention of flu with oseltamivir or baloxavir reduces the risk of confirmed influenza. The meaningfulness of the study results was low for both medicines. It is possible that neither medicine provides benefits in terms of mortality or hospitalisation.