The Journal of dermatology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Comparison between famciclovir and valacyclovir for acute pain in adult Japanese immunocompetent patients with herpes zoster.
Famciclovir is a guanine analog antiviral drug used commonly for herpes zoster. Efficacy of famciclovir treatment has been reported to be comparable to valacyclovir treatment. Both of these medications reduce the time to complete cessation of zoster-associated pain including post-herpetic neuralgia, as compared to acyclovir. ⋯ In addition, a significant reduction in the number of patients with pain was observed as early as days 3-4 with famciclovir treatment as compared with valacyclovir treatment. We conclude that famciclovir was superior to valacyclovir in the relief of acute pain of herpes zoster. Accordingly, famciclovir is recommended for herpes zoster patients with moderate symptoms and a visual analog scale score of under 50 mm.