Objective:

to analyse the demographic and clinical characteristics and the use of oseltamivir in children admitted with influenza to a tertiary care children’s hospital.

Patients and methods:

we conducted a descriptive observational study of all patients aged 0 to 18 years admitted in every December-to-May epidemic season between 2012 and 2016 with a microbiological diagnosis of influenza.

Results:

we reviewed the cases of 166 patients. The percentage of influenza admissions out of the total admissions during the seasons under study between 2.03% and 9.69%. The highest number of admissions occurred in the second to last season under study (p < .0001). Children with infection by influenza A were younger compared to those with influenza B (2.45 vs. 3.88 years, p< .0001), and we found no significant differences between serotypes in the sex distribution, mean length of stay or need for antibiotherapy or bronchodilators. A total of 96 children (57.83%) received oseltamivir, 75 of them in the 2015-2016 season. We found no differences in the characteristics of children treated with oseltamivir compared to those that were not. The mean length of stay was 0.89 days overall and was greater in children treated with the antiviral drug, with p-values that neared the threshold for significance in the entire sample (p = .052); the length of stay was 1.8 days longer in the 2015-2016 season (p = .039). We did not find significant differences between patients that received oseltamivir and patients that did not in the percentage that developed pneumonia or the percentage that required admission to the paediatric intensive care unit.

Conclusions:

the percentage of children admitted with influenza virus was substantial and increased in the last season. Children with an influenza A diagnosis were younger compared to children with influenza B. Our study did not find advantages in the use of oseltamivir.

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