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Title: Valacyclovir prevents transmission of sexually transmitted genital herpes: Presented at ICAAC

"Valacyclovir prevents transmission of sexually transmitted genital herpes: Presented at ICAAC"

By Ed Susman SAN DIEGO, CA -- September 30, 2002 -- Valacyclovir treatment of infected genital herpes patients reduces the risk of transmission of the disease to an uninfected partner by about 50 percent, researchers said at the 42nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a meeting sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego, California. "This is the first time an antiviral agent has been shown to reduce transmission of a sexually transmitted disease," Dr. Lawrence Corey, MD, professor of laboratory medicine and medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Corey said if an infected patient was taking the drug valacyclovir (Valtrex) the risk that his or her partner would get the symptomatic painful disease was cut 77 percent compared with people who were taking placebo. Infection with genital herpes, including cases in which the skin eruptions did not occur although the virus was transmitted, was reduced by 50 percent, he said. "I would recommend on the basis of this study that doctors should prescribe valacyclovir to patients with genital herpes who are living with a person who is uninfected," he said. Nearly 1,500 discordant couples participated in the eight-month long study. The couples had been in a heterosexual, monogamous relationship for an average of 3 to 4 years, and the average age of the participants was 35 years, Dr. Corey said. About 3.8 percent of the uninfected partners became infected if their partner was taking the placebo pills, compared with 1.9 percent of the previously uninfected individuals whose partners were taking valacyclovir. About 2.3 percent of the originally uninfected partners came down with symptoms if their partner was taking placebo, compared with 0.5 percent of the partners of those on valacyclovir. Not only does the trial show benefit for people with genital herpes, but Dr. Scott Hammer, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Columbia University, New York, said, "it lays the groundwork for treating other diseases including life-threatening ones such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection." HIV causes AIDS. The study was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline of London, United Kingdom, the marketer of Valtrex. Dr. Hunter Handsfield, MD, director of the sexually transmitted control program for Public Health - Seattle & King County, said the study represented a breakthrough in that it confirmed the "notion that you can give an antiviral to an infected person and protect another person. These are few times -- if ever -- that this possibility has ever been shown." Handsfield said he would prescribe the drug to patients if he could convince them that it was absolutely necessary to take the drug every day. In the study, Corey said the couples were urged to use condoms to prevent transmission of herpes, but only 30 percent of the couples used the devices more than 90 percent of the time. About 56 percent of the couples never used condoms. Dr. Handsfield said that the bigger -- and yet unanswered question -- is whether infected single individuals will use valacyclovir to protect others against the disease. "We don't know how compliance will be affected when the goal is altruistic in nature," he said.

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