Influenza future: the impact of new vaccines and antivirals

The new vaccines and antivirals may change the way influenza is controlled, but we need first to remember that the current inactivated vaccines are effective and underutilized. A trivalent live-attenuated vaccine has recently been demonstrated to be 93% efficacious in preventing isolation-confirmed influenza and to be 86% efficacious when a drifted strain was circulating. The antivirals zanamivir and oseltamivir shorten the duration of illnesses from 1 to 3 days and prevent complications requiring antibiotics. Both are efficacious in prophylaxis, including postexposure in the family. We can expect to see, in the future, expanded prevention and control of influenza, not only in the traditional groups, but in additional segments of the population, such as working adults and children. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.