Description:
Background: There are successful reports of the concomitant management of herpes infection and
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), using both acyclovir (ACV) and COVID-19 treatment
regimens. Furthermore, ACV has been proposed to effectively treat COVID-19, through various
mechanisms, such as inhibition of viral proteases, multiple viral gene expressions, and RNAdependent RNA polymerase (RdRP). Therefore, this study aimed to review the reported cases of
patients with concomitant herpes infection and COVID-19, receiving concurrent antiviral drugs
for herpetic lesions.
Methods: A search was done to find the relevant articles, published between December 2019 and
December 2020, with no language limitations, in the PubMed database, using the Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH) terms related to herpes simplex virus or herpes zoster (namely, shingles)
combined with COVID-19. Accordingly, the reports of the concomitant herpes infection and
COVID-19, receiving concurrent antiviral drugs for herpetic lesions were included.
Results: Out of 90 articles, 11 records reporting the cases of herpes infection and concurrent
laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, receiving antiherpetic therapies, were reviewed. There were
28 patients (age range of 7-82 years) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, concomitant
with reactivation of herpes infection, receiving antiviral drugs alongside candidate COVID-19
treatment regimens, but no mortality. The mean (standard deviation [range]) age of these 28
patients during treatment was 56.4 (18.6 [7-82]) years, and the majority were male (n=18, 64.3%).
A total number of 20 patients had also received ACV and eight cases had been administered
with other two antiviral compounds, including seven cases with valacyclovir, and one case with
famciclovir, with no mortality.
Conclusion: The potential use of ACV, as an add-on therapy, along with candidate COVID-19
treatment regimens was proposed in this study. However, further clinical trials are recommended
to test this hypothetical adjuvant therapy
URL:
http://103.158.96.210:88/web_repository/uploads/ps-27-S68.pdf
Type:
Journal
Document:
Diploma III Farmasi
Date:
23-06-2024
Author:
Fatemeh Heidary