Skip to main content
Device Global Header

Subscribe
or Renew

Advanced Search

This article is available to subscribers. Subscribe now. Already have an account? Sign in

Medical IntelligenceFree PreviewArchive

Successful Treatment with Foscarnet of an Acyclovir-Resistant Mucocutaneous Infection with Herpes Simplex Virus in a Patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

List of authors.
  • P.A. Chatis,
  • C.H. Miller,
  • L.E. Schrager,
  • and C.S. Crumpacker

THE most widely used drug therapy for herpes simplex virus (HSV) is the nucleoside analogue acyclovir.1 2 3 To inhibit the growth of HSV, acyclovir must first be phosphorylated to the monophosphate form by virus–specific thymidine kinase, followed by phosphorylation to the active triphosphate form by cellular enzymes. The activated triphosphate is a potent inhibitor of herpes-specific DNA polymerase.4 Resistance to acyclovir has occurred infrequently, usually in patients with severe immunodeficiency disorders, and resistance is usually associated with loss of viral thymidine kinase activity.5 6 7 8 9 10 Severe mucocutaneous infections due to acyclovir-resistant herpesvirus infections are now occurring with increasing frequency in patients with the . . .

Funding and Disclosures

We are indebted to Gary Munk, Liz Salsburg, and Nina Turubiner for excellent technical assistance, to Marna Fisher for assistance in the preparation of the manuscript, and to Gerald Friedland for helpful discussions and review of the manuscript.

Author Affiliations

From the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston (P.A.C., C.S.C.), and the Division of Infectious Diseases, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y. (C.H.M., L.E.S.). Address reprint requests to Dr. Crumpacker at the Division of Infectious Disease, Beth Israel Hospital, 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02215.

Print Subscriber? Activate your online access.