title: Acyclovir in the treatment of hand-foot-and-mouth disease.
abstract: Twelve children ages 1 to 5 years and one adult with hand-foot-and-mouth disease were treated with oral acyclovir within one to two days of onset of the rash. Symptomatic relief, defervescence, and significant involution of lesions were seen within twenty-four hours of initiating therapy. Acyclovir was continued for five days, by which time palmar, plantar, and oral lesions were virtually gone. Acyclovir is a molecule tailored to inactivate the thymidine kinase of the herpesvirus. Since the Coxsackie A16 virus causing hand-foot-and-mouth disease lacks this enzyme, the beneficial therapeutic effect must be explained on other grounds, possibly due to enhancement of the antiviral effect of the patient's own interferon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo 43699-0008, USA.
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Shelley
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Shelley
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006232:Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir