RESUMO
Orally administered acyclovir has been given to 60 patients with genital herpes; 20 experiencing a first attack and 40 patients with recurrent attacks. All the patients were followed up for one year for the clinical assessment of the treatment. In both primary and recurrent infections, acyclovir significantly reduced the severity of clinical symptoms, time to crusting and complete healing and new lesion formation compared with the controls. The treatment of recurrent infections, however, was not reported to show as good a result as by primary infection. No toxicity was observed as very few patients had insignificant side effects e.g. diarrhoea. The frequency of recurrence [number of recurrences per year] to acyclovir treated patients is significantly lower than in controls [P < 0.05]. The mean time to the next clinical recurrence is also significantly longer in acyclovir recipients than in controls. Oral acyclovir is thus effective and well tolerated in patients with herpes genitalis, though it does not prevent recurrences. The effects of acyclovir on the clinical picture of herpes genitals is discussed