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Although acyclovir helps heal lesions and relieve the pain of herpes zoster, the added benefit of prednisone is less clear. This double-blind factorial trial suggests that the combination of acyclovir plus prednisone is beneficial for the management of herpes zoster.
The participants included 208 immunocompetent adults over age 50 who had had localized herpes zoster for less than 72 hours. They were randomized to 21 days of acyclovir (800 mg five times daily) plus placebo, prednisone (tapering from 60 to 15 mg daily) plus placebo, acyclovir plus prednisone, or placebos for both drugs. At one-month assessments, patients who had received combination therapy had faster healing, quicker cessation of neuritis and analgesic therapy, and quicker re…