Introduction: Genital herpes is an infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2), and is among the most common sexually transmitted diseases.
Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of different oral antiviral treatments versus each other for a first episode of genital herpes in HIV-negative people? What are the effects of different antiviral treatments for genital herpes in HIV-positive people? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to October 2013 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Results: We found eight studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.
Conclusions: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: aciclovir, famciclovir, and valaciclovir.