US EPA

8395557 

Journal Article 

Update on treatments for oral herpes simplex viral infections (cold sores and fever blisters) 

Barbarash, RA 

2001 

19 

1 

39-57 

English 

An estimated 80% of the U.S. population has been infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV), resulting in over 100 million episodes of orolabial herpes ("cold sores" or "fever blisters") each year. Herpes viruses are unique in their ability to establish a "latent" infection in 20-40% of all infected individuals, by which HSV persists in an inactive form which can reactivate at any time to cause recurrent cold sores. A wide range of non-prescription palliative agents are available to provide temporary relief of cold sore symptoms, but do not reduce the severity of an HSV outbreak. Only one prescription agent, penciclovir 1% cream, is approved for use in treating HSV infection. Recently, a new non-prescription over-the-counter agent, docosanol 10% cream (Abreva™), received FDA approval for use in the treatment of HSV infection. In controlled clinical trials, docosanol has been shown to reduce the healing time and duration of cold sore symptoms through a unique mechanism of action, inhibiting viral entry into the target cell. The availability of non-prescription docosanol can be expected to help patients improve their management of recurrent cold sores, reducing their negative impact on the quality of life for millions of HSV-infected individuals.