Background: Influenza infection is responsible for thousands of hospitalizations and deaths
in the United States each year. Until recently, management options were limited to
vaccination or use of the antiviral agents amantadine and rimantadine. Two antiviral drugs,
zanamivir and oseltamivir, have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug
Administration for the treatment of influenza A and influenza B. Objective: This article
reviews the published data on the pharmacology and clinical utility of zanamivir and …