Reducing Transmission Risk*

"The majority of genital herpes infections are transmitted by persons* unaware that they have the infection or who are asymptomatic when transmission occurs."1

 

"The risk of HSV-2 sexual transmission can be decreased by the daily use of valacyclovir by the infected person."*1

 

*In immunocompetent heterosexual adults. Safer sex practices should be used with daily therapy with VALTREX.

Daily therapy with VALTREX has been shown to reduce the risk of HSV-2 transmission in heterosexual, HSV-2-discordant couples.2

Results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial of 1484 immunocompetent, monogamous heterosexual couples discordant for HSV-2. Source patients had a history of <9 recurrences/year and received VALTREX 500 mg once daily (n=743) or placebo (n=741) for 8 months.

†Any patient experiencing a recurrence received episodic therapy (VALTREX 500 mg bid x 5 days), then resumed
  their medication regimen.

Based on a landmark study, VALTREX 500 mg once daily has been approved by the FDA to reduce the risk of transmission of genital herpes, along with safer sex practices.2

  • 48% reduction in risk of transmission of overall genital herpes infection (symptomatic and/or HSV-2 seroconversion) vs episodic† (1.9% vs 3.6%)
  • 73% reduction in total viral shedding (symptomatic and/or asymptomatic) vs episodic treatment (2.9% vs 10.8%)
    - results from 60-day viral shedding substudy of 89 source patients enrolled in the study
      described above

The recommended dosage for the reduction of transmission in patients with a history of <9 recurrences per year is 500 mg once daily.

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2006. MMWR. 2006;55 (RR-11):1-92.
    2.
  2. Corey L, Wald A, Patel R, et al. Once-daily valacyclovir to reduce the risk of transmission of genital herpes. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:11-20.
    3.
  3. Data on file, GlaxoSmithKline.
    4.