Burden of influenza in patients with cardiovascular disease who receive antiviral treatment for influenza.

People with heart disease are more likely to have complications from respiratory viruses, including influenza (flu). Moreover, respiratory viruses may increase the risk of damage to the heart muscle. We examined whether patients with heart disease who get the flu and take prescription medications called antiviral drugs have fewer short- and long-term flu-related complications and use fewer healthcare services than patients with heart disease who do not take antiviral drugs.We examined commercial and Medicare databases during three influenza seasons (2016­2017, 2017­2018, and 2018­2019), and we compared outcomes and costs among heart disease patients who were treated or not treated with antiviral drugs. Patients with heart disease and the flu who received antiviral drugs had fewer visits to the emergency room, used fewer healthcare services for respiratory-related problems, used fewer heart disease-related healthcare services, and had fewer heart failure-related or kidney failure-related healthcare visits than heart disease patients who were not treated for the flu. Finally, patients with heart disease who were treated with antiviral drugs spent less money on outpatient services than patients with heart disease who were not treated with antiviral drugs.We determined that patients who get the flu and take antiviral drugs have fewer short- and long-term flu-related complications and use fewer healthcare services than heart disease patients who do not receive antiviral drugs. Therefore, it may be important to treat heart disease patients with antiviral drugs in order to reduce the number of flu-related complications in these patients.