Single-Dose Oral Antiviral Therapy Found To Accelerate Healing Time Of Cold Sore Outbreaks
You sense a tingling on your lip that, in a day or two, turns into a red blister. It’s a cold sore and it’s difficult to hide or get rid of easily.
With approximately 100 million episodes of recurrent cold sores occurring annually, all too many Americans are familiar with this common condition. Cold sores, medically known as herpes labialis, are an infection of the mouth area with the herpes simplex virus. In fact, it is estimated that cold sores affect 66 percent of American adults–with most being infected by the age of 20 years. Also known as fever blisters, cold sores typically appear as eruptions of small and usually painful blisters on the skin of the lips, mouth or gums or the skin around the mouth.
Although there is no cure for cold sores, new medical research found that a single dose of the prescription antiviral Famvir (famciclovir tablets), given to patients with recurrent cold sores at the first sign of symptoms (within the first hour), resulted in significant improvements in healing time and resolution of pain and tenderness. This study...