On Sun, 4 Aug 1996 12:20:00 GMT, David Jobson wrote:
>
>I thought D & TB was unequivocal a couple of years back - Rx
>all adults with the pox.
>
The most recent D & TB article I could find was 21/12/92 (Vol.30
No.26). It recommends acyclovir for the immunocompromised, genital
herpes and ophthalmic shingles but says "the marginal clinical benefit
provided by oral acyclovir in otherwise healthy patients is not
sufficient to support its use for the treatment of uncomplicated
chicken pox".
I think this is the important issue - acyclovir and its equivalents
don't give dramatic benefits, in fact it is difficult to distinguish
them from placebo except with large trials. If they were cheap this
wouldn't matter but at the present price it's difficult to justify.
The situation is different with some other expensive drugs, e.g.
Imigran, which costs ridiculous amounts but does give very obvious
benefit to some patients whose migraine doesn't respond well to
cheaper drugs ( and no I don't get migraine!)
David Evans
Cardiff
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