ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of topical interferon alfa-1b cream in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods A randomized, double-blind, parallel placebo-controlled clinical study was conducted. The test drug was topically used in herpes zoster patients, three times a day for 2 weeks. Patients whose skin lesions cleared completely were followed for 29 days to observe postherpetic neuralgia. Results One hundred and twenty-eight patients with herpes zoster were enrolled into this trial. Sixty-five patients were randomly selected to receive interferon alfa-1b cream and sixty-three patients received vehicle cream. After following up for 11, 14, 22, 29 days the cure rates were 69.2%, 81.5%, 90.8%, 95.4% respectively in the study group and were 57.1%, 71.4%, 84.1% and 84.1% respectively in the control group(P