July 29, 1998
Contact: Amanda Mazur; (312)996-7681; [email protected]
Carol Mattar; (312)996-1563
ADVISORY TO HEALTH REPORTERS, NEWS EDITORS AND ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
Embargoed for release until 5 p.m. CDT Wednesday, July 29
WHAT: Researchers, including UIC ophthalmologists, have found that an antiviral drug often used to suppress genital herpes also decreases the recurrence of herpes of the eye. In its most serious form, the condition can cause blindness.
WHO: Dr. Joel Sugar, professor of ophthalmology and director of the cornea service at the UIC Medical Center, was principal investigator of the study at UIC, which was one of eight regional centers conducting the Acyclovir Prevention Trial.
WHEN: Results of the study will be published in the July 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
DESCRIPTION: Herpes of the eye, or ocular herpes, is caused by the same herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores, says Sugar. An estimated 400,000 Americans have some form of ocular herpes, which can produce a painful sore on the eyelid or surface of the eye and cause inflammation of the cornea. Less severe forms of ocular herpes include blepharitis, conjunctivitis and epithelial keratitis. Stromal keratitis, the more severe form, can destroy an inner layer of the cornea.
Once people develop ocular herpes, they have up to a 50 percent chance of having a recurrence. The clinical trial showed that oral acyclovir, which also is used to treat genital herpes, reduces flareups in the deep cornea by about 50 percent. "By doing so, it reduces permanent scarring and vision loss," Sugar says.
When taken for ocular herpes, the drug also reduced the frequency of herpes recurrence in other parts of the body, according to Sugar.
UIC was one of eight regional centers conducting the study, with 11 ophthalmologists in the Chicago area entering patients. The trial was funded by the National Eye Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health.
-UIC-
RSS