Clinical effects of oseltamivir, zanamivir, laninamivir and peramivir on seasonal influenza infection in outpatients in Japan during the winter of 2012-2013.

Background: The neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) oseltamivir, zanamivir, laninamivir and peramivir are available in Japan. However, the selective use of NAIs for treating outpatients with influenza has not been clearly defined. Methods: We assigned 191 patients with influenza to 4 groups, each treated with a different NAI, and then compared how long it took to alleviate fever and other symptoms and to eliminate the virus. Results: Alleviation of fever occurred significantly sooner with peramivir than with either zanamivir (p = 0.0002) or oseltamivir (p = 0.0059), but was not significantly different from that with laninamivir (p = 0.0457; p Conclusions: The ability of each NAI to alleviate influenza symptoms and fever varied. The appropriate use of NAIs requires further study.