Herpesvirus Infection. Optimization of Local Treatment

Abstract

Considering the numerous clinical manifestations of herpes infection, the long recurrent course of the disease and the lifelong persistence of the virus in the body, its treatment is difficult and not always effective. Now none of the known antiviral drugs is able to eliminate the virus from the human body. The goal – to increase the effectiveness of therapy for patients with herpes virus infection by using an antiviral cream containing menthol. Materials and methods. 33 people suffering from herpes virus infection were under observation. Of these, 19 people had herpes zoster, 14 had HSV, 8 had herpes labialis, and 6 had herpes nasofacialis. The age of the patients ranged from 21 to 69 years. There were 20 women, 13 men. The patients were divided into clinical and therapeutic groups representative of age, gender, and nosological forms. The 1st experimental group included 19 patients, of which 1–9 had herpes simplex virus and 10 – herpes variocele zoster. The 2nd comparison group included 14 people, 5–5 had HSV-1 and 9 had herpes variocele zoster. Patients with herpes zoster received systemic antiviral drugs in complex therapy. Patients with HSV-1 in group I used lipster mint cream topically, patients in group II – cream with acyclovir. Creams were applied 5 times a day in a thin layer to the affected areas. Results. Subjective signs of itching, pain, and burning regressed after the first application of an antiviral cream containing menthol in patients of the 1st group. In the prodromal period 7 patients with HSV group I had an abortive form of herpes infection. In patients of the II group the decrease in subjective sensations was noted on the 2nd-3rd day of treatment. In patients with herpes zoster in both the I and II groups the dynamics of disease regression was equivalent. In patients of the 1st group the subjective feeling significantly decreased after applying the drug, which lasted for 30–40 minutes, and significantly stopped on the 3rd-4th day of treatment. Conclusions. Thus, the use of an antiviral cream containing menthol increases the effectiveness of the therapy of herpes virus infection caused by HSV and herpes zoster, due to the reduction of subjective manifestations: reduction of pain, itching, burning already at the first applications, which improves the quality of life. The use of this agent in the prodromal period prevents the appearance of extensive clinical manifestations of the disease, contributing to the development of abortive forms of herpes virus infection. The cream ensures rapid positive dynamics of the elements and prevents the development of secondary infection.