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Published on: September 20, 2021
Short-course oral antiviral treatment for recurrent genital herpes
Randall P Sharp1, Barry J Gales
1Department of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, OK, USA. sharpr@swosu.edu
Objective:
To evaluate the literature regarding short-course oral therapy for recurrent genital herpes.
Data Sources:
Literature was accessed through MEDLINE (1966-March 2003), IOWA Drug Information Service (1966-March 2003), and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1966-March 2003).
Data Synthesis:
Data are available describing short-course (2 or 3 d) therapy with acyclovir and valacyclovir. Short-course acyclovir therapy was superior to placebo. Three- and 5-day regimens of valacyclovir were equivalent. Early initiation of therapy may be more important than duration of therapy.
Conclusions:
More head-to-head studies are needed to determine the most efficacious and cost-effective short-course regimens for recurrent genital herpes.
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