Clinical guidelines for herpes labialis: recommendations and quality evaluation according to AGREE II

Cold sores require Healthcare professionals to employ specific approaches for prevention and management, with the need for effective therapeutic guidelines and ongoing improvement in patient care.

To evalúate the methodological quality of Clinical Guidelines (CG), clinical guides and manuals for care of the population affected by herpes labialis, to verify their compliance with evidence-based health standards.

A search was conducted for CG on labial herpes in the MedicalLiteratureAnalysis andRetrieval System Online (Medline) database, Google Scholar, Brazilian Virtual Health Library (BVS), and sites of institutions/professional categories, using the descriptors "herpes labialis" or "oral herpes". Document quality was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation Instrument (AGREE II). The Kappa test was used to avoid randomness or poor agreement between results.

Analysis of the 12 selected publications on the management of labial herpes revealed flaws in quality, as the publications did not follow a quality standard. The main quality flaws identified were in "rigor in development" and "applicability. ".

Priorities need to be redefined in the development of CG for clinical practice related to fever blisters to reduce the variability of the quality standard, and generate reliable, applicable recommendations.