title: Oral acyclovir for herpes zoster: a double-blind controlled trial in normal subjects.
abstract: Sixty immunocompetent patients with herpes zoster of various dermatomes were treated 5 times a day for 5 days with either acyclovir at a dose of 400 mg or placebo. Acyclovir was shown to reduce significantly the time to full crusting (P = 0.02). There were also trends in favour of acyclovir for time to first dry vesicle and time to first day without macules or papules, but these were not statistically significant. There were no differences between the groups in the occurrence of adverse events or postherpetic neuralgia.
authors.affiliation: University of Hamburg, UKE Hautklinik, FRG.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Wassilew
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reimlinger
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nasemann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000212:Acyclovir