This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.

CADTH. Acyclovir versus valacyclovir for herpes virus in children and pregnant women: a review of the clinical evidence and guidelines. Ottawa: Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). Rapid Response. 2014

In the last five years there has been very limited new evidence on the effectiveness of oral antivirals in children with chickenpox, pregnant women with herpes simplex virus, pregnant women with herpes zoster, or pregnant women with chickenpox.In children with chickenpox acyclovir was shown to be effective, although clinical significance in otherwise healthy children is questionable. No evidence on the comparative effectiveness of valacyclovir in this population was identified.There is RCT data supporting efficacy of both acyclovir and valacyclovir in pregnancy for suppression of recurrent genital herpes.Although available data are reassuring as to the safety of valacyclovir in pregnancy, there is substantially more experience with acyclovir.Recent practice guidelines for the treatment of both chickenpox and genital herpes in pregnancy consistently recommend acyclovir for certain clinical scenarios. Many of these guidelines also present valacyclovir as an option.

Subject indexing assigned by CRD

Acyclovir; Adult; Antiviral Agents; Canada; Child; Evidence-Based Medicine; Female; Guidelines as Topic; Herpes Genitalis; Herpesvirus 2, Human; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; Treatment Outcome; Valine

English

Canada

Ontario

An English language summary is available.

Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), 865 Carling Avenue, Suite 600, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, K1S 5S8 Email: requests@cadth.ca

32015000159

03/03/2015