Oseltamivir was linked to about 30% fewer ICU admissions in children hospitalised with influenza

The edition in brief

In 6,044 US children hospitalised with laboratory-confirmed influenza across eight seasons, oseltamivir, modelled as a time-dependent exposure, was associated with a lower hazard of ICU admission (adjusted HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.60–0.80) and shorter stay. Half the children had a comorbidity, most often asthma. The study is observational but addresses timing bias. The PAEAN trial randomised 313 infants with moderate or severe hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, all cooled, to erythropoietin 1000 IU/kg for five doses or placebo; death or moderate-to-severe disability at two years was 34.1% versus 28.7% (RR 1.19, 0.84–1.68), with no safety concerns. Across 166,943 paediatric emergency visits at eight New York EDs, a commercial electronic sepsis alert had a sensitivity of 36% and a positive predictive value of 3% for Phoenix-defined sepsis, and only 30% sensitivity before sepsis onset; sensitivity was lower in children under five, Black children and non-tertiary EDs.