Healio.com is reporting on the results of a study published in BMJ that found newborns exposed to neuraminidase inhibitors (Tamiflu or Relenza) during pregnancy did not have an increased risk for adverse outcomes or congenital malformations.
Researchers examined the effects of the neuraminidase inhibitors Tamiflu (oseltamivir, Roche) and Relenza (zanamivir, GlaxoSmithKline) during pregnancy. They assessed data on women and their singleton infants born at 154 days of gestation or later from January 2008 to December 2010 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and France. The researchers defined influenza treatment exposure in newborns as mothers having filled a prescription during pregnancy.
More than 5,800 women and their infants were exposed to neuraminidase inhibitors during pregnancy. Most of the women (74%) were prescribed oseltamivir, and 441 received an inhibitor more than once during pregnancy. Overall, 1,220 infants were exposed during the first trimester, 2,408 were exposed during the second trimester, and 2,196 were exposed during the third trimester.
Exposure to oseltamivir or zanamivir did not increase the risk for stillbirth or being born preterm. In contrast, there was a decreased risk for having a low birth weight and being small for gestational age.
