@article {Ishaqui1015, author = {Azfar A. Ishaqui and Amer H. Khan and Syed A. Sulaiman and Muhammad Alsultan and Irfanullah Khan}, title = {Efficacy comparison of oseltamivir alone and oseltamivir-antibiotic combination for early resolution of symptoms of severe influenza-A and influenza-B hospitalized patients}, volume = {41}, number = {9}, pages = {1015--1021}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.15537/smj.2020.9.25249}, publisher = {Saudi Medical Journal}, abstract = {Objectives: To assess the comparative efficacy of oseltamivir alone and oseltamivir-antibiotic therapy for early relief of symptoms associated with severe influenza-A (non-H1N1) and influenza-B infection hospitalized patients.Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study conducted from 2016-2019, enrolled patients were divided into 2 treatment groups. Group 1 patients were started on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) alone therapy. Group 2 patients were initiated on Antiviral drug (oseltamivir) in combination with Antibiotic therapy. Using acute respiratory illness scoring, symptom severity score was assessed daily for 8 symptoms namely, fever, fatigue, headache, cough, sore throat, wheezing, muscle ache and nasal congestion. For each symptom the severity was scored from scale 0-3.Results: Overall mean ARI severity score was statistically significantly lower (p\<0.05) on day 2 (14.65-vs-13.68), day 3 (12.95-vs-11.67) and day 4 (10.31-vs-9.12 ) for influenza-A (non-H1N1) while day 3 (12.52-vs-11.87) and day 4 (11.21-vs-10.18) for influenza-B patients for patients who were initiated on oseltamivir-antibiotic combination therapy. Fever, cough and nasal congestion showed statistically significant improvement within 4 days of initiation of combination treatment. Fatigue, sore throat and muscle ache improvement pattern was same for both treatment protocols.Conclusion: Oseltamivir-antibiotic combination treatment showed early resolution of some symptoms with cumulatively reduced mean symptom severity score in severe influenza infection hospitalized patients.}, issn = {0379-5284}, URL = {https://smj.org.sa/content/41/9/1015}, eprint = {https://smj.org.sa/content/41/9/1015.full.pdf}, journal = {Saudi Medical Journal} }