How to cut hospital stays for elderly.

• Position: Flu Season - Brief article

Early treatment of flu-hospitalized people 65 and older with influenza antiviral medications cuts the duration of their hospital stay and reduces their risk of needing extended care after discharge, finds a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Community-dwelling patients 65 years and older who seek medical care or who are hospitalized within two days of illness onset and who are treated with antiviral medications in the first four days of illness have hospital stays that are substantially shorter than those who received treatment later. This benefit is observed even among those who seek care more than two days after they get sick, but the reduction in hospital stay is not as great.

While flu...