Word: acyclovir
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...year of painful, itchy blisters; many have outbreaks every month. Now, for the first time, there is hope for those so afflicted. According to two studies reported in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, daily doses of a new, capsule form of the drug acyclovir can prevent recurrences in many patients...
...Straus' study, oral acyclovir prevented herpes outbreaks in twelve out of 16 patients who took the drug three times a day for four months. All 16 herpes sufferers in a control group had outbreaks during the period. In the second study, conducted at the University of Washington in Seattle, 68% of 96 patients taking acyclovir during a four-month test period remained symptom free, while 94% of those taking placebos developed blisters. In both studies, patients suffered flare-ups after they stopped taking the drug...
While subjects in the studies complained of few side effects beyond an occasional upset stomach, the long-term risks of taking acyclovir are unknown...
...least a dozen methods have been tried, without notable success, to cure herpes. Among them: vitamin C, injections of inactive herpes viruses, fluorescent light, ether, even zinc in the diet. An ointment containing 2-deoxy-D-glucose seemed promising a year ago, but researchers are not so optimistic now. Acyclovir (ACV), an antiviral drug, looks promising, but testing is far from complete or conclusive. Smallpox vaccine has been tried unsuccessfully, and vaccines in general are viewed warily: if herpes does in fact cause cancer, some vaccines could increase the risk by increasing the number of herpes viruses in the body...
...acyclovir is proven effective in treating simplex 1 type herpes, it may be effective in treating herpes simplex 11, also known as genital herpes...