Take the MRSA Quiz! Strep or Sore Throat Slideshow Pictures Infectious Mononucleosis Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Medical Treatment

Treatment includes medication for fever (see above) and taking plenty of fluids.

• A topical anesthetic such as viscous lidocaine (Dilocaine, Nervocaine, Xylocaine, Zilactin-L) may be prescribed to relieve pain associated with oral blisters and lesions.
• Oral or IV medication does exist for HSV but is not recommended for people with a normal immune system. It is used only for people with weakened immune systems, infants younger than 6 weeks of age, or people with severe disease.
• Some people may require hospital admission.
• Those with severe local infection
• People whose infection has spread to other organ systems
• People with weakened immune systems
• Dehydrated individuals who need IV hydration
• Infants younger than 6 weeks of age

Mild uncomplicated eruptions of herpes simplex require no treatment. Severe infection may require treatment with an antiviral agent. Oral antiviral drugs include

• acyclovir (Zovirax),
• valacyclovir (Valtrex),
• famciclovir (Famvir),
• topical acyclovir or penciclovir (Denavir), (creams) may shorten attacks of recurrent HSV-1 if it is applied early, usually before lesions develop.

These drugs may stop viral replication in the skin but do not eliminate HSV from the body or prevent later outbreaks (HSV reactivation). These drugs are used more frequently with HSV-2 infections. Most investigators suggest consulting an infectious disease expert when HSV infected people need hospitalization. Research findings suggest laser treatments may speed healing and lengthen the time before any recurrent sores.