skip to the content
Treatment prevention

Antivirals

What are antivirals?

Antivirals are prescription medicines that actively attack the flu virus and stop it from spreading inside your body. There are two classes of antivirals: older agents (known as M2 channel blockers) and newer agents (known as neuraminidase inhibitors). All these antivirals can reduce the severity of flu symptoms and length of time that the symptoms last. Not only can antivirals help treat flu, they can also help protect you from catching it from someone else.

Antivirals can be used to:

  • treat flu in adults. Some antivirals can also be used to treat flu in children older than 1 year
  • prevent widespread outbreaks of flu among people in shared living facilities – such as nursing homes and university or college halls of residence
  • protect those individuals from catching flu who cannot receive a flu jab (e.g. people allergic to eggs) or who did not get vaccinated
  • provide protection when a flu epidemic is caused by virus strains not covered by the annual flu jab.

Treating flu with antivirals

Antivirals can be used to treat flu. Some agents can be used to treat everyone – even children, provided they are aged 1 year or older. For best effect, antivirals must be started within the first 48 hours of flu symptoms appearing. If you think you feel flu symptoms coming on, act fast and speak to your doctor immediately.

Worried that you or a family member is coming down with flu? Check your symptoms.

Preventing flu with antivirals

If a family member or someone close to you is diagnosed with flu, antiviral medications can help protect you from catching the virus. Act fast and speak to your doctor about prevention as soon as possible if you’ve been in contact with someone who has flu.

Here are some useful questions to help you speak with your doctor about flu and antiviral treatments available.

Types of antivirals

There are four different antivirals approved for the treatment and prevention of flu. The most commonly used antivirals are neuraminidase inhibitors which can be taken either by mouth or inhaled.

For best effect, antiviral treatment must be started within the first 48 hours of flu symptoms appearing. So, if you feel symptoms coming on, act fast and speak to your doctor immediately.

To view a short film about neuraminidase inhibitors and how they work, follow the link.

  • "I would describe flu as something that makes you feel very, very ill. You get a headache, aching bones, and are generally fed up"
  • "When I get flu symptoms I feel like a train has run over me"
  • "I felt very sick and, during the first week, I had high temperature. Flu was very different to a cold. I went back to work after two and a half weeks. Then I suffered a setback for another week"
  • "I run a guesthouse; flu would be a real pest for me. I couldn’t cook, I shouldn’t cook, and I wouldn’t cook, so I would need to get a lot of extra help in. It would cost me a lot more money. So flu’s a real problem, a right downturn"
  • "I work on my own and when I can’t work, I have to try not to infect my little children, so they avoid getting the flu as well"
  • "I feel a little numb, like I’m in another dimension. Because in general I have sore throat, headache, I feel all clogged-up. Usually a sensation like I’m floating in the air"
  • "Shivers, sweats, makes you ache. Last time I had flu I was off for two weeks"
  • "I think that I would probably be concerned that I would pass flu onto my children, who might not be able to deal with it as well as I would"
  • "Flu makes you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat. You don’t feel like you can get yourself out of bed as all your energy is drawn from you"
  • "I was incapable of working. It just wasn’t possible at all… and my flu dragged on for more than a week"
  • "I have no strength. It annoys me because I can do nothing, it seems like I’m wasting my time"
  • "Flu’s like being hit by a truck because you feel completely gone. There is no energy left in your body. You are suffering from high temperature. You’re sweating a lot and you feel really unwell"
  • "First of all infinite tiredness, then I feel like sleeping and don’t want to eat"
  • "I felt really miserable because my muscles and my bones were aching. Well, I can hardly describe it, I just felt really awful, absolutely miserable"
  • "It’s like there’s something huge treading on your head, like a deafening noise that destroys the eardrums"
  • "The fever was constantly rising – I immediately measured my temperature as soon as I got home. It was 41°C and it kept rising and I was wondering what’s going on. I was really scared! Everything was hurting and it all happened so fast. Flu came out of the blue"
  • "I always feel like my limbs have iron weights tied to them and I’m going to fall over any minute, a really stuffy runny nose and feel antisocial"
  • "I was totally dependent on others! I was incapable of doing anything at all"
  • "The real flu knocks you for six – you just don’t want to move or do anything. It’s not very nice"
  • "Not being able to go to work. Not being able to do the things I have to do at home and the commitments that I have day by day"