What you should know about antiviral drugs
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If you get the flu this winter, you may be prescribed an antiviral medication, such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza). These drugs help reduce symptoms and may help you recover from the flu a day or two earlier. "Antivirals are safe, they're well tolerated, and the evidence suggests that they may result in a lower rate of complications and hospitalizations from influenza," says infectious disease expert Dr. Raphael Dolin, Maxwell Finland Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
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