Relief for Herpes Victims: Drug for Repeat Bouts OKd
The Food and Drug Administration today approved the first prescription drug to treat genital herpes. The agency said the drug will provide relief from recurring bouts of infection for some of the country’s 5 million to 20 million herpes victims.
Genital herpes is virtually epidemic in the United States, the FDA said, with an estimated 300,000 new cases each year. Among sexually transmitted diseases, that is second only to gonorrhea’s estimated 1 million new cases.
The drug approved by the agency is oral acyclovir, to be marketed under the trade name Zovirax. The company that produces it said it will be available for prescription in about six weeks.
An intravenous form of acyclovir has been available for hospital use since 1982. An ointment form also was approved that year.
But, the FDA said, earlier forms of the drug were labeled only for initial herpes infections, while the new, capsule form can also be used for treatment and suppression of recurring infections.
While many people seldom or never have such recurrences, some are afflicted by 12 or more a year.
Symptoms of genital herpes appear about three weeks after exposure to the herpes virus and include pain, tingling and small blisters.
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