Acyclovir treatment of varicella in otherwise healthy children.
J Pediatr
; 116(4): 633-9, 1990 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-2156984
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether acyclovir administered orally affects the duration and severity of varicella in otherwise normal children. DESIGN: Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. SETTING: Patients' residence and university hospital clinic. PATIENTS: One hundred five children between 5 and 16 years of age with laboratory-confirmed varicella entered the study. Of the 102 who were included in the final analysis, 50 received acyclovir and 52 received placebo. INTERVENTION: Placebo or acyclovir was given orally four times daily, for 5 to 7 days. The acyclovir dose was adjusted as follows: 5 to 7 years of age, 20 mg/kg; 7 to 12 years, 15 mg/kg; and 12 to 16 years, 10 mg/kg. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Acyclovir recipients, compared with the placebo group, defervesced sooner (median, 1 day vs 2 days; p = 0.001), experienced onset of cutaneous healing sooner, as reflected by a decrease in number of lesions (median, 3 days vs 2 days; p = 0.002), and had fewer skin lesions (median, 500 vs 336; p = 0.02). Acyclovir did not significantly change the rate of complications of varicella (10% in the acyclovir group vs 13.5% among placebo subjects). Adverse drug effects were not observed. Acyclovir recipients had lower geometric mean serum antibody titers to varicella-zoster virus than their placebo counterparts 4 weeks after the onset of illness, but antibody titers in both groups were similar 1 year later. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide evidence that acyclovir is useful and well tolerated for treatment of varicella in otherwise healthy children.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Aciclovir
/
Varicela
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Pediatr
Ano de publicação:
1990
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de publicação:
Estados Unidos