The FDA has just approved a new antiviral drug to treat influenza.
Rapivab, also known as peramivir, is administered to adults in a single intravenous injection during the first 48 hours of flu symptoms. This means that it is likely to be reserved for hospitalized patients who come down with flu and can’t take oral or inhaled drugs like Tamiflu or Relenza.
According to the CDC, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized with influenza and its complications every year. Having an additional drug for treating them will be helpful. People will need to act quickly, however. Like other anti-flu drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), Rapivab works best when administered within 48 hours of the first symptoms appearing.
As a single dose treatment, it is convenient. The medicine is mostly well tolerated, but it can cause diarrhea. There are also some rare but serious skin reactions such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome or erythema multiforme. Delirium and hallucinations have been reported, but investigators are unclear whether they resulted from the medication or were consequences of the infection itself.
[FDA]
