Learning About Antiviral Medications as Flu Cases Surge

Temperatures are rising and trees are starting to bud, but flu cases are still flooding emergency rooms across the country. This flu season is considered to be the most severe in 15 years and data from mid-February shows cases continuing to trend upwards.

Older adults are at a higher risk of serious complications from infectious diseases like the flu because our immune systems weaken with age. We’re also more likely to have chronic diseases as we age, and those diseases can make us more susceptible to complications.

With illnesses like the flu or COVID-19 that are caused by a virus, antibiotics can’t help since they fight bacterial illnesses. But there are medications that can help. Antiviral medications for the flu and COVID-19 can help make symptoms less miserable, lower the risk of complications, and in some cases even prevent infection after an exposure.

So who should take the antivirals, how do they work, and how do you get them? To help answer those questions, the Alliance created some educational fact sheets and co-hosted a webinar with the Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity & Progress (CVEEP). Dr. Amesh Adalja from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Dr. William Schaffner from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases covered a lot of ground during the webinar.

One of the points that they underscored is the importance of taking the antivirals soon after the symptoms start. “With an infectious disease, the faster you get treatment on board, the better your outcome is going to be because that gives the virus less time to cause damage. It will also decrease the amount of time that the immune system has to be fighting it and going it alone, so we always want people to get linked to a treatment as quickly as possible,” shared Dr. Adalja.

Dr. Schaffner also spoke about talking to health care professionals in advance so you’re prepared. “As adults, we put things off—‘Oh, maybe I’ll get better tomorrow. Oh, I don’t want to bother the doctor.’ But the longer we wait the less apt we are to get the benefits from antivirals. It’s good to think about these things in advance and indeed to have conversations with your provider in advance.”

It’s not too late to have a game plan if you or a loved one ends up with the flu or COVID-19. For all of these resources visit www.agingresearch.org/AntiViralMedications.

Lindsay Clarke is the Alliance’s Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Health Education.