This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bacon, T. H. Articles by Sutton, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bacon, T. H. Articles by Sutton, D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, January 2003, p. 114-128, Vol. 16, No. 1
0893-8512/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CMR.16.1.114-128.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Herpes Simplex Virus Resistance to Acyclovir and Penciclovir after Two Decades of Antiviral Therapy

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Weybridge, Surrey KT15 0DE, United Kingdom,¹ Pediatric Infectious Diseases, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262,² Antimicrobial and Host Defense Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426³

Acyclovir, penciclovir, and their prodrugs have been widely used during the past two decades for the treatment of herpesvirus infections. In spite of the distribution of over 2.3 x 10⁶ kg of these nucleoside analogues, the prevalence of acyclovir resistance in herpes simplex virus isolates from immunocompetent hosts has remained stable at approximately 0.3%. In immuncompromised patients, in whom the risk for developing resistance is much greater, the prevalence of resistant virus has also remained stable but at a higher level, typically 4 to 7%. These observations are examined in the light of characteristics of the virus, the drugs, and host factors.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Martinez, V., Caumes, E., Eisenhut, M., Nagot, N., Weiss, H., Van de Perre, P. (2007). HSV Therapy and HIV-1 Reduction. NEJM 356: 2323-2324 [Full Text]  
• Pesola, J. M., Coen, D. M. (2007). In vivo fitness and virulence of a drug-resistant herpes simplex virus 1 mutant. J. Gen. Virol. 88: 1410-1414 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Liu, S., Knafels, J. D., Chang, J. S., Waszak, G. A., Baldwin, E. T., Deibel, M. R. Jr., Thomsen, D. R., Homa, F. L., Wells, P. A., Tory, M. C., Poorman, R. A., Gao, H., Qiu, X., Seddon, A. P. (2006). Crystal Structure of the Herpes Simplex Virus 1 DNA Polymerase. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 18193-18200 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Williams-Aziz, S. L., Hartline, C. B., Harden, E. A., Daily, S. L., Prichard, M. N., Kushner, N. L., Beadle, J. R., Wan, W. B., Hostetler, K. Y., Kern, E. R. (2005). Comparative Activities of Lipid Esters of Cidofovir and Cyclic Cidofovir against Replication of Herpesviruses In Vitro. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 3724-3733 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Andrei, G., Balzarini, J., Fiten, P., De Clercq, E., Opdenakker, G., Snoeck, R. (2005). Characterization of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Thymidine Kinase Mutants Selected under a Single Round of High-Dose Brivudin. J. Virol. 79: 5863-5869 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• MacDougall, C., Guglielmo, B. J. (2004). Pharmacokinetics of valaciclovir. J Antimicrob Chemother 53: 899-901 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Corey, L., Wald, A., Patel, R., Sacks, S. L., Tyring, S. K., Warren, T., Douglas, J. M. Jr., Paavonen, J., Morrow, R. A., Beutner, K. R., Stratchounsky, L. S., Mertz, G., Keene, O. N., Watson, H. A., Tait, D., Vargas-Cortes, M., the Valacyclovir HSV Transmission Study Group, (2004). Once-Daily Valacyclovir to Reduce the Risk of Transmission of Genital Herpes. NEJM 350: 11-20 [Abstract] [Full Text]