title: Oseltamivir for treatment and prevention of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus infection in households, Milwaukee, 2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During an influenza pandemic, a substantial proportion of transmission is thought to occur in households. We used data on influenza progression in individuals and their contacts collected by the City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) to study the transmission of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus in 362 households in Milwaukee, WI, and the effects of oseltamivir treatment and chemoprophylaxis.
  
  
  METHODS
  135 households had chronological information on symptoms and oseltamivir usage for all household members. The effect of oseltamivir treatment and other factors on the household secondary attack rate was estimated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression with households as the unit of analysis. The effect of oseltamivir treatment and other factors on the individual secondary attack rate was estimated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression with individual household contacts as the unit of analysis, and a generalized estimating equations approach was used to fit the model to allow for clustering within households.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Oseltamivir index treatment on onset day or the following day (early treatment) was associated with a 42% reduction (OR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.19, 1.73) in the odds of one or more secondary infections in a household and a 50% reduction (OR: 0.5, 95% CI: 0.17, 1.46) in the odds of a secondary infection in individual contacts. The confidence bounds are wide due to a small sample of households with early oseltamivir index usage - in 29 such households, 5 had a secondary attack. Younger household contacts were at higher risk of infection (OR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.50-5.20).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early oseltamivir treatment may be beneficial in preventing H1N1pdm influenza transmission; this may have relevance to future control measures for influenza pandemics. Larger randomized trials are needed to confirm this finding statistically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. egoldste@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cowling
authors.forename: Justin J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: O'Hagan
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Danon
authors.forename: Vicky J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagy
authors.forename: Joel C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reshef
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biedrzycki
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lipsitch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018890:Chemoprevention / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005192:Family Health; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D053139:Oseltamivir / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014922:Wisconsin
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D053139:Oseltamivir