Duration of fever and symptoms in influenza-infected children treated with baloxavir marboxil during the 2019–2020 season in Japan and detection of influenza virus with the PA E23K substitution

• Published in: Antiviral research Vol. 201; p. 105310
• Main Authors: Wagatsuma, Keita, Saito, Reiko, Chon, Irina, Phyu, Wint Wint, Fujio, Kakuya, Kawashima, Takashi, Sato, Isamu, Saito, Tadashi, Minato, Michiyoshi, Kodo, Naoki, Suzuki, Eitaro, Ono, Yasuhiko, Masaki, Hironori, Shirahige, Yutaka, Kitano, Akito, Hamabata, Hirotsune, Yuyang, Sun, Jiaming, Li, Watanabe, Hisami
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.05.2022
• Subjects: Antiviral Agents - therapeutic use; Baloxavir marboxil; Child; Dibenzothiepins; Fever - drug therapy; Humans; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus; Influenza B/Victoria-lineage virus; Influenza, Human; Japan; Morpholines; NA variant; Nucleotidyltransferases; Oseltamivir; Oseltamivir - therapeutic use; PA variant; Pyridones - therapeutic use; Seasons; Triazines - therapeutic use; Japan; Influenza B/Victoria-lineage virus; PA variant; Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus; Oseltamivir; NA variant; Baloxavir marboxil
• ISSN: 0166-3542; 1872-9096
• DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105310

Data on the clinical effectiveness of the novel anti-influenza drug baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir) in children remain limited. We conducted an observational study to compare the duration of fever and symptoms between baloxavir- and oseltamivir-treated children infected with influenza A and B. In total, 159 outpatients with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 or B/Victoria-lineage infections, aged <19 years, during the 2019–2020 influenza season in Japan were enrolled and assessed the duration of fever and symptoms using the Kaplan-Meier method and a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model. Polymerase acidic (PA) variants were examined before and after baloxavir treatment. In the multivariable analysis, the duration of fever and symptoms was unaltered between the A(H1N1)pdm09 (n = 116) and B/Victoria-lineage (n = 43) groups. Conversely, the fever duration was marginally longer in the oseltamivir-treated group (n = 59) than in the baloxavir group (n = 100) (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.67, p = 0.05); however, the duration of symptoms was unaltered between the two groups (HR = 0.74, p = 0.11). No patient presented PA reduced susceptibility marker(s) before baloxavir treatment in the analyzed groups. The PA/E23K variant was detected in one case (1.5%, 1/66) of A(H1N1)pdm09 after baloxavir treatment. One case (2.0%, 1/50) of A(H1N1)pdm09 with an N295S substitution in neuraminidase was detected following oseltamivir treatment. These results suggested that the duration of fever was likely to be shorter with baloxavir than with oseltamivir, but the difference between influenza A (H1N1)pdm09 and B/Victoria-lineage was unclear. It is important to continue evaluating the clinical effectiveness of baloxavir and monitoring its drug susceptibility to the influenza virus. •An observational study compared fever and symptom duration between baloxavir- and oseltamivir-treated influenza patients.•Children (n = 159, aged <19 years) infected with A(H1N1)pdm09 or B/Victoria-lineage during 2019–2020 in Japan were analyzed.•Fever duration was likely shorter with baloxavir than oseltamivir, with no clear differences between the two groups.•No patients with polymerase acidic (PA) protein-substituted viruses were identified prior to baloxavir treatment.•One case (1.5%) of A(H1N1)pdm09 with a PA/E23K substitution was detected after baloxavir treatment.