Acyclovir( Zovirax® )
Antiviral

• Acute Treatment of Herpes Zoster
       800 mg every 4 hours orally, 5 times daily for 7 to 10 days.
  
• Initial Genital Herpes Simplex:
       200 mg every 4 hours, 5 times daily for 10 days.
  
  • Chronic Suppressive Therapy for Recurrent Disease
    400 mg 2 times daily for up to 12 months, followed by re-evaluation.
    Alternative regimens have included doses ranging from 200 mg 3 times daily to 200 mg 5 times daily.
    
  • Intermittent Therapy
     200 mg every 4 hours, 5 times daily for 5 days. Therapy should be initiated at the earliest sign or symptom (prodrome) of recurrence.
  • Severe Disease (complicated disease -e.g. disseminated infection, pneumonitis, hepatitis, meningitis or encephalitis)
    5–10 mg/kg body weight IV every 8 hours for 2–7 days or until clinical improvement is observed, followed by oral antiviral therapy to complete at least 10 days of total therapy [1].
    
• Chickenpox (Varicella-zoster)
       Adults and Children over 40 kg: 800 mg 4 times daily for 5 days.
  
  

(200, 400, 800 mg tablets; 200 mg /5 mL suspension -Bottle of 1 pint -473 mL)
Pregnancy Category B
SEE ALSO Drugsafetysite.com/acyclovir

Famciclovir(Famvir®)
Antiviral

• Herpes Zoster
  500 mg every 8 hours for 7 days. No data are available on efficacy of treatment started greater than 72 hours after rash onset.
  
• Herpes Simplex Infections
  • Recurrent genital herpes:
    125 mg twice daily for 5 days. The efficacy of Famvir (famciclovir) has not been established when treatment is initiated more than 6 hours after onset of symptoms or lesions.
    
  • Suppression of recurrent genital herpes:
     250 mg twice daily for up to 1 year. The safety and efficacy of Famvir therapy beyond 1 year of treatment have not been established.
    
  • HIV-Infected Patients
    Recurrent orolabial or genital herpes simplex infection:
    500 mg twice daily for 7 days.
  
  In patients with reduced renal function, dosage reduction is recommended
  
  

(125 , 250, 500 mg tablets)
Pregnancy Category B
SEE ALSO Drugsafetysite.com/famciclovir

Valacyclovir (Valtrex®)
Antiviral

• Acute Treatment of Herpes Zoster:
       1 gram 3 times daily for 7 days. Therapy should be initiated at the earliest sign or symptom of herpes zoster .
• Genital Herpes Initial Episode:
        1 gram twice daily for 10 days. Therapy is most effective when administered within 48 hours of the onset of signs and symptoms.
• Recurrent Genital Herpes Episodes:
   500 mg twice daily for 3 days. There are no data on the effectiveness of treatment with VALTREX when initiated more than 24 hours after the onset of signs or symptoms.
• Chronic Suppressive Therapy:
  1 gram once daily in patients with normal immune function. In patients with a history of 9 or fewer recurrences per year, an alternative dose is 500 mg once daily. The safety and efficacy of therapy with VALTREX beyond 1 year have not been established.
• In HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell count ³100 cells/mm3
  500 mg twice daily. The safety and efficacy of therapy with VALTREX beyond 6 months in patients with HIV infection have not been established.
• Reduction of Transmission in patients with a history of 9 or fewer recurrences per year:
  500 mg once daily for the source partner.  The efficacy of reducing transmission beyond 8 months in discordant couples has not been established.
• Cold Sores (Herpes Labialis):
       2 grams twice daily for 1 day taken 12 hours apart. Therapy should be initiated at the earliest symptom of a cold sore.

(500 mg, 1 gram caplets)
Pregnancy Category B
SEE ALSO Drugsafetysite.com/valacyclovir

REFERENCES;

1. CDC Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines , 2006  MMWR August 4, 2006/ 55 (RR-11)