EFFICACY OF PANAVIR® AND ACYCLOVIR IN THE COMPLEX THERAPY OF HERPETIC INFECTION-COMPLICATED RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Objective: to evaluate the efficiency of antiviral therapy in patients with herpetic infection-complicated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who receive the basic therapy. Subjects and methods. One hundred and thirty patients with recurrent herpesvirus infection were enrolled in the prospective comparative study. The patients were divided into 3 groups: 1) in addition to the basic therapy, the patients received Panavir®; 2) those who took Acyclovir; and 3) those who had the basic therapy alone. In 90 of the 130 examinees, high titers of antiviral IgG antibodies to cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus were found in 60 and 48,8%, respectively. The interferon-deficiency syndrome was diagnosed in 72 (80,0%) patients. Results. Virostatic therapy may be recommended for patients with RA concurrent with recurrent herpesvirus infection.