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Brand names: Acyclovir, Zovirax, Xerese
Mechanism of Antiviral Action: Acyclovir is a synthetic purine nucleoside analogue with in vitro and in vivo inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus types 1 (HSV-1), 2 (HSV-2), and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). The inhibitory activity of acyclovir is highly selective due to its affinity for the enzyme thymidine kinase (TK) encoded by HSV and VZV. This viral enzyme converts acyclovir into acyclovir monophosphate, a nucleotide analogue. The monophosphate is further converted into diphosphate by cellular guanylate kinase and into triphosphate by a number of cellular enzymes. In vitro , acyclovir triphosphate stops replication of herpes viral DNA. This is accomplished in 3 ways: 1) competitive inhibition of viral DNA polymerase, 2) incorporation into and termination of the growing viral DNA chain, and 3) inactivation of the viral DNA polymerase. The greater antiviral activity of acyclovir against HSV compared with VZV is due to its more efficient phosphorylation by the viral TK. A
Contraindications
9 documented side effects by frequency
15 Reddit threads analysed for ACYCLOVIR
Overall Sentiment
Mixed
Comparison Threads
10
Avg Post Score
72 upvotes
Most discussed side effects in community
Threads directly comparing ACYCLOVIR to other medications
Specs: 23M, 140lb 6’1”, no drinking, no drugs, no previous health conditions Negative Covid tests and vaxxed Hey All, I’ll try to keep this short, but here is the deal. Since early highschool my energy levels have always been low, my body has generally felt quite sluggish. I always just attributed t
I shouldn’t have to put acyclovir in quotes to search for it and not get a bunch of unrelated results. Vanco and APAP aren’t even close in spelling or class
***EDIT 03/21/18:*** *I'm adding this to the top of the post because my original post is so damn long. Every now and then a redditor will reach out asking for an update and it's times like these I recognize what an awesome community we have here on this site.* *For any wondering how it turned out.
For locational context, my (20M) sister (18F, probably around 5'8" and 170 pounds, doesn't smoke or drink, hasn't traveled outside of the country recently except for Nova Scotia, Canada many months back) and I both live far from my parents as we’re in school, but she lives further than I do and in a
Virologist here, just trying to better understand antivirals. I’m wondering if anyone can elaborate on the differences between acyclovir and ganciclovir. I know that the latter has an additional hydroxymethyl group, and I’ve read that ganciclovir is most active against CMV (but does have activity ag
Today I got an order for acyclovir suspension for a 30kg 6 year old with chickenpox. The PA initially ordered 80mg QID. When I called to say that was a very low dose (should be 20mg/kg/dose) she refused to listen about this dose being too low. When I asked to speak to her supervising physician she f
Had a provider call and explain that she had a patient with genital herpes who was having a possible allergy to Acyclovir. From what I can gather from Clinical Pharmacology, all of the antivirals are structurally related and pretty much all oral options are contraindicated (Famciclovir, Valacyclovir
So he asked for acyclovir in tabs. I'm done 😕
Please forgive me if this violates the rules of the sub (I don't think it does after reading the sidebar). What's the deal with povidone in oral medications? It seems so ubiquitous and it makes prescribing for patients with an allergy quite difficult. As an example, I cared for a patient with a he
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4 available comparisons
Dosage Forms
Tablet
Route
Oral