Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 20, 1994 TAG: 9405200069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other critics vehemently opposed the move, saying it would endanger patients by increasing drug resistance and blocking doctors' ability to diagnose AIDS and other diseases that mimic or accompany herpes.
"We are concerned that this could have a negative effect on public health," warned Dr. Phil Pellet of the CDC.
"We are looking at great danger," added G'Dali Braverman of the AIDS activist group Act-Up.
But Burroughs-Wellcome Co. told a government hearing Thursday that allowing the prescription drug acyclovir to be sold over-the-counter would offer relief to millions of sufferers who don't have the time or money to visit a doctor whenever the disease flares up.
If the Food and Drug Administration agrees, acyclovir would become this country's first oral, nonprescription medicine for an infectious disease. It won't decide the issue before a second hearing in July.
About 55 million people have herpes simplex virus-2, or HSV-2, which causes sores on the genitals and painful nerve inflammation. In some people, symptoms remain latent for years while others experience outbreaks several times a year. Between 250,000 and 500,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
There is no cure, but acyclovir taken as soon as symptoms appear can reduce the length of outbreaks, and some hard-hit patients take it daily to reduce the frequency of attacks.
It also can alleviate shingles and chicken pox, and very preliminary evidence that it could help AIDS patients prompts thousands to take daily doses as well.
by CNB