NICE. Amantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir for the treatment of influenza (2/27/2009)

[Giuseppe Michieli]

NICE. Amantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir for the treatment of influenza (2/27/2009)

NICE technology appraisal guidance 168

Amantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir for the treatment of influenza
(review of NICE technology appraisal guidance 58)

[Original PDF Document at this LINK. Excerpts. EDITED.]

Ordering information
You can download the following documents from www.nice.org.uk/TA168
• The NICE guidance (this document).
• A quick reference guide – the recommendations.
• ‘Understanding NICE guidance’ – a summary for patients and carers.
• Details of all the evidence that was looked at and other background information.

For printed copies of the quick reference guide or ‘Understanding NICE guidance’, phone NICE publications on 0845 003 7783 or email publications@nice.org.uk and quote:
• N1804 (quick reference guide)
• N1805 (’Understanding NICE guidance’).


This guidance is written in the following context This guidance represents the view of NICE, which was arrived at after careful consideration of the available evidence. Healthcare professionals are expected to take it fully into account when exercising their clinical judgement.

However, the guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer. Implementation of this guidance is the responsibility of local commissioners and/or providers.

Commissioners and providers are reminded that it is their responsibility to implement the guidance, in their local context, in light of their duties to avoid unlawful discrimination and to have regard to promoting equality of opportunity. Nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way which would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - MidCity Place 71 - High Holborn London WC1V 6NA - www.nice.org.uk


NOTE: This guidance replaces ‘NICE technology appraisal guidance 58’ issued in February 2003. The review and re-appraisal of amantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir for the treatment of influenza has resulted in a change in the guidance.

Specifically:
• people with chronic neurological conditions and people with chronic liver disease are now considered ‘at risk’
• zanamivir is now recommended as a treatment option for children between the ages of 5 and 12 years in ‘at-risk’ groups if influenza is circulating and they can start treatment within 36 hours of first symptoms
• oseltamivir and zanamivir are now recommended as treatment options for ‘at-risk’ people in long-term and residential nursing homes during localised outbreaks (when influenza is not circulating), if there is a high level of certainty that the causative agent is influenza.


This guidance has been prepared in the expectation that vaccination against influenza is undertaken in accordance with national guidelines. Vaccination has been established as the first-line intervention to prevent influenza and its complications, and the use of drugs described in this guidance should not in any way detract from efforts to ensure that all eligible people receive vaccination. This guidance does not cover the circumstances of a pandemic, impending pandemic, or a widespread epidemic of a new strain of influenza to which there is little or no community resistance.
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[kiwibird]

Is that because zanamivir is better tolerated by children and has fewer side effects - or because it is more effective?