TREATMENT DATABASE

Acyclovir (Zovirax) is an antiviral. It was one of the first drugs to be proven effective against genital herpes. Acyclovir is not a cure for the infection because it does not kill the virus but merely inhibits its ability to replicate. In addition to treating herpes simplex, which causes genital herpes, acyclovir has been used with some success to treat other types of herpesvirus infections, such as chickenpox (varicella zoster virus), shingles (herpes zoster), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus), among others.

USES IN ME/CFS: In the mid-1980s, Epstein-Barr virus was thought to be the cause of the illness now known as ME/CFS. Because Epstein-Barr virus is one of the herpesviruses, it was thought acyclovir could be used to treat cases of what was then called chronic Epstein-Barr virus or chronic mononucleosis. At that time, physicians using acyclovir noted symptomatic improvement in many of their patients. 

Dr. Charles Lapp has reported “remarkable results with this medication.” Dr. Guyer, Director of The Advanced Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, recommends acyclovir for patients with viral onset of ME/CFS (after mononucleosis or other viral infection), especially in the presence of high titers of herpesvirus, recurrent shingles, or other clinical evidence of viral infection (CFIDS Chronicle, Spring 1991).

Treatment rating for Zovirax (acyclovir)