In an editorial accompanying Dr. Strong and collegues' findings, epidemiologist Johan Giesecke of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control wrote that though the British school studies “add to our knowledge of the spectrum of adverse events when oseltamivir is used for treatment and/or prophylaxis in large groups of children,” they also demonstrate “that expected benefits must be weighed carefully against side effects when this drug is considered for outbreak situations.”
For future outbreaks, Dr. Giesecke cautioned, it may be best to try to develop “a simple instrument to decide who in the group would be at the highest risk of exposure and infection.”
Also, he wrote, “even if antivirals are given to school children in order to diminish spread in society, the studies cited here indicate that this effect is limited—influenza is spreading also outside the school yards.”