Most antivirals don’t do anything to treat the flu

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/uritheflu/113751?xid=nl_mpt_morningbreak2025-01-14&mh=22c3cd8ebe0a923b5ca6e6e20f1222e0&zdee=gAAAAABm4uK279jdo8CafLOm4JPz0sgm8eROJ6H7GdfxGvH9_dh-e3vaHvPfFgfVvLTOrVxu7IzgOZjaDOo5SqXSuPk5o185gqPs7KYIv4wO-rjbk3ZgvV0%3D&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBreak_011425&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_Daily_News_Update_active

In a totally shocking statement (note my sarcasm), a meta analysis of over 71 studies have shown that these antivirals are junk and they are now admitting that antivirals such as Tamiflu do not do anything for treating the flu.

“Compared with standard care or placebo, all antiviral drugs had little or no effect on mortality for low- and high-risk patients (all high certainty).”

“Also of note, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) had little or no effect on risk for hospital admission in high-risk patients (RD -0.4%, 95% CI -1.0 to 0.4; high certainty), and all the other antivirals included in the study had little effect or an uncertain effect. Oseltamivir also likely had no important effect on symptom duration (mean difference -0.75 days, 95% CI -0.93 to -0.57; moderate certainty).

For adverse events related to treatment, baloxavir (RD -3.2%, 95% CI -5.2 to -0.6; high certainty) had few or no adverse events, and oseltamivir (RD 2.8%, 95% CI 1.2-4.8; moderate certainty) likely increased adverse events.”

Tamiflu already made pharma their billions…….

The Medical Industrial Complex came running to the rescue. Clutching their pearls in shock that these meds do not work and blamed it on “starting antivirals on people before lab results came back positive for flu”. Good grief. Here is their statement:

In an accompanying editor's noteopens in a new tab or window, Deborah Grady, MD, MPH, of the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues noted that they "found it surprising that antivirals seem to make little difference for individuals with influenza in outpatient settings, even in the optimized setting of randomized clinical trials," given that guidance from the CDC and other organizations encourages treatment with antivirals for influenza.

"For outpatients with risk factors, as well as their household contacts, antiviral therapy is recommended on the basis that it might help," they wrote. "For outpatients without risk factors, antiviral therapy may nonetheless be prescribed based on clinical judgment. In either case, pressure to start treatment as early as possible means that antivirals are often prescribed without diagnostic testing for influenza or thoughtful consideration of their benefits and risks."