Controlling flu like symptoms with interferons

Halper J, Centonze D, Newsome SD, Huang D, Robertson C, You X, Sabatella G, Evilevitch V, Leahy L. Management Strategies for Flu-Like Symptoms and Injection-Site Reactions Associated with Peginterferon Beta-1a: Obtaining Recommendations Using the Delphi Technique. Int J MS Care. 2016; 18(4):211-8

BACKGROUND: Flu-like symptoms (FLSs) and injection-site reactions (ISRs) have been reported with interferon beta treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS). We sought to obtain consensus on the characteristics/management of FLSs/ISRs in patients with relapsing-remitting MS based on experiences from the randomized, placebo-controlled ADVANCE study of peginterferon beta-1a.
METHODS: ADVANCE investigators with a predefined number of enrolled patients were eligible to participate in a consensus-generating exercise using a modified Delphi method. An independent steering committee oversaw the development of two sequential Delphi questionnaires. An average rating (AR) of 2.7 or more was defined as consensus a priori.
RESULTS: Thirty and 29 investigators (ie, responders) completed questionnaires 1 and 2, respectively, representing 374 patients from ADVANCE. Responders reported that the incidence/duration of FLSs/ISRs in their typical patient generally declined after 3 months of treatment. Responders reached consensus that FLSs typically last up to 24 hours (AR = 3.17) and have mild/moderate effects on activities of daily living (AR = 3.34). Patients should initiate acetaminophen/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatment on a scheduled basis (AR = 3.31) and change the timing of injection (AR = 3.28) to manage FLSs. Injection-site rotation/cooling and drug administration at room temperature (all AR ≥ 3.10) were recommended for managing ISRs. Patient education on FLSs/ISRs was advocated before treatment initiation.
CONCLUSIONS: Delphi responders agreed on the management strategies for FLSs/ISRs and agreed that patient education is critical to set treatment expectations and promote adherence.


The Delphi method is a structured communication method, originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds.After each round, a  facilitator provides an anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their panel. It is believed that during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will converge towards the "correct" answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a predefined stop criterion (e.g. number of rounds, achievement of consensus, stability of results) and the mean or median scores of the final rounds determine the results.

It is not my job to make comment on the findings but they may help you if you are using interferons and maybe one of the neuros may comment on this

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