Emerging treatments
Convalescent plasma
There is only one published case report of uncontrolled treatment and no clinical trials of convalescent plasma for treatment of Asian lineage A(H7N9) virus infection. In January 2015, a 45-year-old male patient with respiratory failure and confirmed Asian lineage A(H7N9) virus infection was treated with oseltamivir. Convalescent plasma collected from a patient who had recovered from A(H7N9) virus infection 9 months earlier was added for treatment, with associated resolution of A(H7N9) virus shedding and full recovery.[152] The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests not administering passive immune therapy to patients with suspected or confirmed influenza virus infection (including zoonotic influenza) with or at risk of severe illness, based on very low-quality evidence.[130]
Favipiravir
Favipiravir is an oral agent that has been approved in some Asian countries for the treatment of novel or re-emerging influenza virus infections in adults (limited to cases in which other anti-influenza virus drugs are ineffective or not sufficiently effective). The mechanism of action is inhibition of the RNA polymerase of influenza viruses.[153] Although in-vitro data have demonstrated inhibition of Asian lineage A(H7N9) low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses by favipiravir, informative clinical data on the use of favipiravir in the treatment of A(H7N9) virus infection or severe seasonal influenza are lacking.
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