Flu Treatment With Oseltamivir Linked to Reduced Risk for Pediatric ICU Admissions, Length of Stay

THURSDAY, Aug. 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For children hospitalized with influenza, oseltamivir treatment is associated with a reduced risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and with decreased hospital length of stay (LOS), according to a study published online Aug. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Kacie Rytlewski, M.D., from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children”s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, and colleagues examined the association between oseltamivir receipt and ICU admission and hospital LOS among pediatric influenza-associated hospitalizations during seasons 2014 to 2015 through 2022 to 2023, excluding 2020 to 2021. Participants included children younger than 18 years who were hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza and had a recorded respiratory symptom onset date.

The primary ICU analysis included 6,044 influenza cases, and of these cases, 4,240 (70.2 percent) received oseltamivir; 7,103 cases were included in the secondary LOS analysis, including 5,746 (80.9 percent) who received oseltamivir. The researchers found that compared with untreated children, oseltamivir treatment reduced the risk for ICU admission (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.69) and shortened LOS (hazard of hospital discharge; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.13).

“After one of the most severe influenza seasons in the past two decades, these findings reinforce the importance of treating children with influenza who are hospitalized,” senior author Suchitra Rao, M.D., also from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in a statement. “Our findings show that oseltamivir treatment can decrease the risk of needing critical care, even if started beyond the first two days of the start of the illness.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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