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Over 3 million children in the United States get chickenpox every year. The varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox, is sensitive to the antiviral drug acyclovir. This multicenter randomized trial evaluated acyclovir treatment (20 mg/kg four times daily) for chickenpox in 815 otherwise healthy children aged 2 to 12 years.
The children received acyclovir or placebo starting within the 24 hours after rash appeared. The acyclovir- treated children had significantly fewer varicella lesions than the placebo-treated children at 3-day follow-up and had virtually no new lesions after day 3 (lesions were still forming at day 6 in 20 percent of the placebo group). While 25 percent of the placebo group remained febrile at day 3, fever had resol…