Treatment of Severe Influenza A Infection

Each year, influenza A infection caused great mortality and morbidity, especially among the elderly and individuals with chronic illness. Many of these patients are \'late presenters\' who are admitted to hospital a few days after symptoms onset and have developed complications secondary to immunodysregulation. Antiviral treatment with the neuraminidase inhibitor is of limited usage for patients who presented to the hospital 48 hours after symptom onset. Apart from ventilatory and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, treatment options for these patients are limited. Recent animal study has demonstrated that combinations of an antiviral agent with a COX-II inhibitor can reduce mortality in mice infected with influenza virus. The investigators therefore propose to enrol patients with severe influenza A infection requiring hospitalization and oxygen support on a randomized controlled trial with celecoxib.