Treatment of recurrent herpes simplex labialis with oral acyclovir

Spotswood L. Spruance; Jeffery C.B. Stewart; Nathaniel H. Rowe; Mark B. McKeough; Gay Wenerstrom; Donna J. Freeman

doi:10.1093/infdis/161.2.185

Treatment of recurrent herpes simplex labialis with oral acyclovir

Spotswood L. Spruance
, Jeffery C.B. Stewart
, Nathaniel H. Rowe
, Mark B. McKeough
, Gay Wenerstrom
, Donna J. Freeman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

169 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a double-blind, randomized, patient-initiated clinical trial, 174 nonimmunocompromised patients with a history of virus-culture-confirmed herpes simplex labialis were treated with acyclovir capsules, 400 mg five times daily for 5 days, or placebo capsules. For 97% of the patients, treatment started within 1 h of the first sign or symptom of a recurrence. The frequency of positive lesion virus cultures was significantly lower among acyclovir-treated subjects (29/114,25%) than among placebo-treated subjects (29/60,48%; P =.004). Drug treatment did not affect the development of lesions, measured by the frequency of macular and papular (aborted) lesions and mean maximum lesion size. However, acyclovir hastened lesion resolution among the patients who could start treatment in the prodrome or erythema lesion stage. For this group, the mean duration of pain was reduced by 36% (P =.02)and the mean healing time to loss of crust by 27% (P =.03). Thus, oral acyclovir alleviated some of the clinical manifestations of herpes simplex labialis.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	185-190
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume	161
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/161.2.185
State	Published - Feb 1990
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Received 18 January 1989; revised 9 August 1989. Presented in part at the 26th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 28 September-l October 1986, New Orleans. Each participant signed an Institutional Review Board-approved document of informed consent, and guidelines for human experimentation at each institution were followed. Supported in part bya grant from Burroughs Wellcome Co., Research Triangle Park, NC, and by grant RR-Q0064, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. Reprints and correspondence: Dr. S. L. Spruance, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84132.

Funders	Funder number
Division of Research Resources
Author National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health National Institutes of Health The Bev Hartig Huntington's Disease Foundation National Institutes of Health
Burroughs Wellcome Fund	RR-Q0064

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Medicine

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10.1093/infdis/161.2.185

Cite this

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title = "Treatment of recurrent herpes simplex labialis with oral acyclovir",

abstract = "In a double-blind, randomized, patient-initiated clinical trial, 174 nonimmunocompromised patients with a history of virus-culture-confirmed herpes simplex labialis were treated with acyclovir capsules, 400 mg five times daily for 5 days, or placebo capsules. For 97\% of the patients, treatment started within 1 h of the first sign or symptom of a recurrence. The frequency of positive lesion virus cultures was significantly lower among acyclovir-treated subjects (29/114,25\%) than among placebo-treated subjects (29/60,48\%; P =.004). Drug treatment did not affect the development of lesions, measured by the frequency of macular and papular (aborted) lesions and mean maximum lesion size. However, acyclovir hastened lesion resolution among the patients who could start treatment in the prodrome or erythema lesion stage. For this group, the mean duration of pain was reduced by 36\% (P =.02)and the mean healing time to loss of crust by 27\% (P =.03). Thus, oral acyclovir alleviated some of the clinical manifestations of herpes simplex labialis.",

author = "Spruance, \{Spotswood L.\} and Stewart, \{Jeffery C.B.\} and Rowe, \{Nathaniel H.\} and McKeough, \{Mark B.\} and Gay Wenerstrom and Freeman, \{Donna J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Received 18 January 1989; revised 9 August 1989. Presented in part at the 26th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 28 September-l October 1986, New Orleans. Each participant signed an Institutional Review Board-approved document of informed consent, and guidelines for human experimentation at each institution were followed. Supported in part bya grant from Burroughs Wellcome Co., Research Triangle Park, NC, and by grant RR-Q0064, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. Reprints and correspondence: Dr. S. L. Spruance, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84132.",

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doi = "10.1093/infdis/161.2.185",

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AB - In a double-blind, randomized, patient-initiated clinical trial, 174 nonimmunocompromised patients with a history of virus-culture-confirmed herpes simplex labialis were treated with acyclovir capsules, 400 mg five times daily for 5 days, or placebo capsules. For 97% of the patients, treatment started within 1 h of the first sign or symptom of a recurrence. The frequency of positive lesion virus cultures was significantly lower among acyclovir-treated subjects (29/114,25%) than among placebo-treated subjects (29/60,48%; P =.004). Drug treatment did not affect the development of lesions, measured by the frequency of macular and papular (aborted) lesions and mean maximum lesion size. However, acyclovir hastened lesion resolution among the patients who could start treatment in the prodrome or erythema lesion stage. For this group, the mean duration of pain was reduced by 36% (P =.02)and the mean healing time to loss of crust by 27% (P =.03). Thus, oral acyclovir alleviated some of the clinical manifestations of herpes simplex labialis.

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Treatment of recurrent herpes simplex labialis with oral acyclovir

Abstract

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