A Prospective Study to Examine the Effectiveness and Safety of Neuraminidase Inhibitors in Index Cases With Presumed Pandemic Influenza Infection

The aim of this study is to describe treatment outcomes in patients infected with pandemic influenza (the most likely case being a version of the influenza A H5N1 virus) including overall survival, the incidence and duration of hospitalization, the resolution of protocol specified symptoms, the incidence and the severity of treatment limiting side effects in treated patients. This study will also describe the sequelae of influenza in infected patients including transmission to other persons, associations between baseline data and treatment outcomes and drug resistance. A repository of biological samples will also be created to examine virological and immunological concepts relating to pandemic influenza.

It is an open label prospective cohort study. Patients presenting at study sites with the recognised clinical case definition for pandemic influenza (to be distributed by State and Commonwealth Departments of Health when first clinical case occurs) will be eligible to be enrolled on the study. Informed consent to participate in the study will be sought including parental/guardian consent for minors and presumed consent for adults who are incapacitated (consistent with NHMRC requirements).