Acyclovir treatment of varicella-zoster virus infection in the compromised host.

Forty marrow transplant patients were treated with acyclovir for varicella-zoster virus infection. Median duration of virus positivity and of new lesion formation was 2.1 and 2.2 days, and pustulation , crusting, and healing occurred at medians of 3.5, 8, and 28 days, respectively. Acute pain ceased at a median of 7 days, though seven patients had later recurrence of pain and eight had pain that persisted for more than 28 days. Three patients had recurrence of infection within 4 days after the end of treatment and were successfully treated in each case with a second course of acyclovir. Side effects were minimal. These data compare favorably with published data both from the treatment of normal persons with acyclovir and treatment of normal persons with acyclovir and treatment of immunocompromised patients with vidarabine, and they indicate that acyclovir is safe and effective for the treatment of varicella-zoster virus infection in the severely immunocompromised host.