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Treatment of Acyclovir-Resistant Herpes Simplex and Varicella Zoster Virus Infections

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Antiviral Chemotherapy 4

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 394))

Abstract

Acyclovir-resistant HSV (ACV-R-HSV) infections were first described in 1982.1 To date, over 100 patients with ACV-R-HSV infection have been identified. Although in vitro resis10 tance to acyclovir has been demonstrated in isolates recovered from immunocompetent hosts,2 for practical purposes only the severely immunocompromised patient develops clinically significant ACV-R-HSV (e.g. patients with AIDS, hematologic malignancies, congenital immune deficiencies, or those who have undergone organ transplantation3–9). The single exception to date is a report by Kost et al. of an HIV-negative immunocompetent man with increasingly frequent recurrences of genital HSV despite the use of maximal doses of oral acyclovir for suppression or for treatment.10 This patient, however, appeared to have acquired ACV-R-HSV infection through direct transmission, having had in the recent past 3 new sexual partners of whom 2 had HIV infection.

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Authors
  1. Sharon Safrin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, Fairfield, Victoria, Australia

    John Mills

  2. University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, USA

    Paul A. Volberding

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Lawrence Corey

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Safrin, S. (1996). Treatment of Acyclovir-Resistant Herpes Simplex and Varicella Zoster Virus Infections. In: Mills, J., Volberding, P.A., Corey, L. (eds) Antiviral Chemotherapy 4. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 394. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9209-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9209-6_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9211-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9209-6

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