REVIEW   Free access

Minerva Respiratory Medicine 2023 September;62(3):135-45

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8477.23.02064-8

Copyright © 2023 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Influenza management with new therapies

Katia DONADELLO ^{1, 2} ✉, Leonardo GOTTIN ^{1, 3}, Riccardo PETTITI BOETTI ¹, Ignacio MARTIN-LOECHES ^{4, 5, 6}

¹ School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Dentistry, Gynecology and Pediatrics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; ² Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy; ³ Department of Cardio-Thoracic Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University Hospital of Verona, Verona, Italy; ⁴ Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Organization (MICRO), Leinster, Ireland; ⁵ Pulmonary Intensive Care Unit, Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERes), Respiratory Institute, Hospital of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; ⁶ Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain

Influenza (flu) is a global problem that substantially contributes worldwide to the impact related to respiratory diseases, including lower respiratory tract infection and failure, hospitalization and death rates. The seasonality of epidemics is mainly recorded during the winter period in temperate climates. About 1 billion cases of influenza are estimated each year, of which about 3-5 million develop severe pathology with a 0.1-0.2% case-fatality rate (between 290,000 and 650,000 influenza-related deaths). Several treatments are described in literature, aiming to reduce the duration of the disease, the onset of complications and thus the overall related mortality, and to support patient’s vital functions during severe forms of influenza-related pneumonia. The aim of this review was to describe these treatments and to report the state of scientific evidence, ranging from antivirals, passing through steroids, and accounting for various extracorporeal support techniques. This review highlights the present lack of high-quality studies to answer questions about current treatment efficacy, mostly in terms of hospital and/or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length of stay, and outcome.

KEY WORDS: Influenza, human; Antiviral agents; Adrenal cortex hormones