Early Fever Resolution in Early Childhood Influenza Treated with Baloxavir Marboxil: A Retrospective Study Compared to Those with Oseltamivir

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Baloxavir marboxil is a novel cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor prescribed for influenza treatment. Unlike neuraminidase inhibitors like oseltamivir, which impair viral release from infected host cells, baloxavir blocks influenza virus proliferation by inhibiting viral mRNA transcription. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of baloxavir and oseltamivir for the treatment of early childhood influenza. Materials and Methods: Of 1410 patients diagnosed with influenza between 2015 and 2018 at a Japanese primary care outpatient clinic, 1111 pediatric patients aged 0–6 years who were treated with baloxavir (n = 555) or oseltamivir (n = 556) were enrolled retrospectively. The following clinical factors were compared between patients treated with baloxavir and oseltamivir: age, sex, time from fever onset to drug administration (Results: Median age (3.0 vs. 2.5 years), influenza type A (99% vs. 47%), median duration from drug administration to fever resolution (1 day vs. 2 days), and influenza vaccination (done, 41% vs. not done, 65%) were significantly different between the baloxavir and oseltamivir groups (p p p Conclusions: Baloxavir treatment resulted in a shorter fever duration than oseltamivir treatment in early childhood influenza.

Keywords

• cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor
• early childhood
• fever
• influenza virus
• oseltamivir