Page 68 - 2017 V1 InsideOut

Include Antivirals for Comprehensive Flu Protection
Whether a patient or provider, getting a u vaccine is the best way to protect against in uenza. But in uenza can be a dynamic, constantly mutating virus. And when strains change or drift—as seen with the H3N2 strain during the 2014-2015 u season — vaccine ef cacy can go down.
Based on CDC recommendations,* it’s important to keep u antiviral medications in stock — to treat patients who get the u.
Antivirals work by binding to part of the u virus to stop virus replication in the body. This reduces the duration of illness and makes u symptoms milder. CDC reports that clinical studies during and after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic showed people who were very ill with the u fared better after receiving antiviral drugs than those who didn’t.
The 2014–2015 season had the highest u-associated hospitalization
rate among people 65 and older. CDC continues to recommend that antiviral drugs be used for early treatment of people who are very sick with in uenza, or of people who are sick and at high risk of serious in uenza-associated complications.
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Why CDC Recommends In uenza Antiviral Drugs, March 3, 2015, accessed April 2015 at cdc.gov
Provide comprehensive u protection to all of your patients today by calling ASD Healthcare at 866.281.4FLU (4358).
© ASD Healthcare 2015 06.15
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