Short-course intravenous aciclovir treatment for cutaneous herpes zoster in patients with HIV infection

There are no comparative data on the treatment duration of cutaneous herpes zoster (HZ) in patients with HIV infection. We retrospectively reviewed all 51 adult patients with HIV infection presenting with cutaneous HZ in the 15-year period 1995–2009 treated with intravenous aciclovir alone. The medi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of STD & AIDS 2012-05, Vol.23 (5), p.356-358
Main Authors: Noonan, L, Gunson, T, Ellis-Pegler, R, Thomas, M, Briggs, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acyclovir - administration & dosage
Adult
Aged
AIDS/HIV
Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage
Biological and medical sciences
CD4 Lymphocyte Count
Female
General aspects
Herpes Zoster - complications
Herpes Zoster - drug therapy
HIV Infections - complications
Human immunodeficiency virus
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Infusions, Intravenous
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Neuralgia, Postherpetic - diagnosis
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome
Viral diseases
Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids
Viral diseases with cutaneous or mucosal lesions and viral diseases of the eye
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Summary:There are no comparative data on the treatment duration of cutaneous herpes zoster (HZ) in patients with HIV infection. We retrospectively reviewed all 51 adult patients with HIV infection presenting with cutaneous HZ in the 15-year period 1995–2009 treated with intravenous aciclovir alone. The median CD4 count was 297 (range 10–703) cells/mm3. There were 44 episodes of localized and seven episodes of disseminated cutaneous HZ. Patients received a median of nine (range 3–17) doses of intravenous aciclovir given at a median dose of 6.5 (range 2.9–10.8) mg/kg eight hourly. One patient (2%) relapsed early and four patients (7.8%) relapsed late with further episodes of cutaneous HZ. Seven patients (13.7%) developed postherpetic neuralgia. Three days of intravenous aciclovir is effective treatment for cutaneous HZ in patients with HIV infection.
ISSN:0956-4624
1758-1052
DOI:10.1258/ijsa.2011.011302