A new study put flu guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the test to see how well it worked. It turns out, sticking to the clinical recommendations was most effective in terms of lowering illnesses and hospitalizations from the flu.
The study included a model to demonstrate flu transmission in a nursing home. Researchers compared the number of symptomatic illnesses and hospitalizations under varying treatments to prevent the spread, including different levels of interventions along with how well residents and healthcare workers adhered.
Taking antiviral medication — namely oral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) — is recommended during flu outbreaks in nursing homes to prevent the virus from spreading and to curb severity in those who get it. The study was published Wednesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
According to the CDC, all non-ill residents should start prophylaxis once an influenza outbreak is detected and continue on it for at least 14 days and until seven days after the last laboratory-confirmed influenza case is identified. Not every long-term care facility sticks to that guidance.
When treatments were given in alignment with current guidance, they reduced total symptomatic illnesses and hospitalizations among residents by an average of 12% and 36%, respectively, compared to doing nothing at all.
The authors didn’t find that deviations from the guidance were any more effective. That is, partial adoption resulted in an increase in symptomatic illnesses and/or hospitalizations. On the flip side, longer or earlier adoption did not offer any additional improvements.
The more residents and healthcare workers adhered to the CDC guidance, it worked to lower resident illnesses and hospitalizations. However, increasing adherence among healthcare workers had a minimal impact on residents getting sick, the authors found.
According to current CDC guidance, when two cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza are identified within 72 hours of each other in residents who live in the same unit, the healthcare workers should enact outbreak control measures as soon as possible.
