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Both aciclovir and brivudin are effective in the treatment of immunocompromised children with varicella-zoster virus infection. To determine which drug is preferable, a prospective randomized trial aciclovir vs. brivudin was conducted. Forty-three immunocompromised children were randomly assigned to receive aciclovir intravenously at a dose of 1,500 mg/m2/d and brivudin orally at a dose of 15 mg/kg/d, respectively. Twenty-two patients were treated with aciclovir and 21 with brivudin. In all children the general status improved within two days. The eruption of new lesions stopped within one to five days, fever stopped within one to nine days, complete remission occurred within five to six days after introduction of the virustatic therapy. There was no difference in therapeutic efficacy between aciclovir and brivudin. Two children in each group did not respond to the medication. No myelo-, hepato- and nephrotoxic side effects due to aciclovir or brivudin were observed. All obviously immunocompromised children with varicella or zoster may be treated with aciclovir or brivudin.

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RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants. The humanised monoclonal antibody has been developed for prevention of serious lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV. Palivizumab specifically inhibits subtypes A and B. In a large, multicenter, double-blind, randomised trial in 1502 infants at high risk of RSV infection, intramuscular palivizumab 15 mg/kg reduced the incidence of RSV-attributable hospitalization by 55% compared with placebo. Palivizumab was well tolerated. In Germany palivizumab prophylaxis should be considered only for high risk premature infants and high risk infants with chronic lung disease if the local rate of hospitalization attributable to confirmed RSV infection is frequent.