Tamiflu Helps Keep Severely Ill Kids Out Of The ICU, Study Finds

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Children with the flu who receive prompt treatment with Tamiflu are less likely to land in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU), a new study says.

Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) given as soon as possible reduced children’s risk of needing ICU care by 31%, researchers reported Aug. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

“After one of the most severe influenza seasons in the past two decades, these findings reinforce the importance of treating children with influenza who are hospitalized,” senior researcher Dr. Suchitra Rao said in a news release.

“Our findings show that oseltamivir treatment can decrease the risk of needing critical care, even if started beyond the first two days of the start of the illness,” Rao said. She is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine and an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

These results come as use of antiviral medications among hospitalized children with the flu has declined, despite national guidelines recommending the use of the drugs in suspected or confirmed flu cases.

Surveillance data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed 63% of children hospitalized with the flu during the 2024-2025 flu season received antivirals, down from 86% in the 2017-2018 season, researchers said in background notes.

For the new study, researchers analyzed data from more than 7,000 childhood hospitalizations for severe flu, spanning 13 states and eight influenza seasons. The children were all under 18.

The study accounted for when a child’s symptoms began and when they were given Tamiflu, unlike earlier research, providing a clearer picture into the drug’s effectiveness.

“Earlier studies were often missing key information about when children became sick or whether they started antiviral treatment before being hospitalized, making it harder to evaluate the medication's effectiveness,” Rao said. “By capturing those details and using advanced statistical methods, we were able to produce stronger real-world evidence to inform the care of children hospitalized with influenza.”

It’s recommended that people with the flu receive Tamiflu within two days of developing symptoms, researchers said.

But results showed that “treatment effects remained significant regardless of time to treatment initiation from symptom onset,” researchers wrote in their report.

The team also found that children were 13% more likely to have a shorter hospital stay if they were treated with Tamiflu.

“These findings demonstrate the benefits of oseltamivir receipt and support current national recommendations for oseltamivir treatment as soon as possible in children hospitalized with suspected or laboratory-confirmed influenza,” the researchers concluded.

More information

The National Center for Health Research has more on treatments for the flu.

SOURCES: University of Colorado, news release, Aug. 10, 2026; JAMA Pediatrics, Aug. 10, 2026