acyclovir and Smallpox

Two cases of conjugal contact transfer vaccinia are described. Each patient had intimate contact after their respective partners, active-duty military personnel, received the smallpox vaccination.

Topics: Acyclovir; Adult; Female; Herpes Genitalis; Humans; Keratinocytes; Male; Military Personnel; Patient Education as Topic; Sexual Partners; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Smallpox; Smallpox Vaccine; Spouses; Vaccination; Vaginal Diseases; Valacyclovir; Valine

Topics: Acyclovir; Adult; Antibodies, Viral; Female; Herpesvirus 3, Human; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; Smallpox

Topics: Acyclovir; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Cricetinae; Cytarabine; Drug Industry; Guinea Pigs; Herpesviridae Infections; History, 20th Century; Humans; Influenza, Human; Macaca mulatta; Methisazone; Mice; Rabbits; Smallpox; Thiosemicarbazones; Trifluridine; Vaccinia virus; Vidarabine

Only a few agents with antiviral activity are available for routine clinical use. Amantadine hydrochloride is effective in the prophylaxis of influenza A. In addition, accumulated evidence shows that amantadine has some therapeutic effect when used early in the course of an influenza A infection. Idoxuridine and adenine arabinoside have found application as topical agents in the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis. Adenine arabinoside has also been approved for the treatment of disseminated infections due to herpes zoster and herpes simplex. Acyclovir sodium has been approved as a topical agent in the treatment of limited mucocutaneous herpes simplex viral infections in immunosuppressed patients and of initial episodes of genital herpes simplex infections in patients with normal immunity. Ribavirin, an experimental agent with a wide spectrum of activity in vitro, has not fulfilled expectations in clinical trials. Because of the eradication of smallpox, methisazone has become obsolete as a prophylactic agent in smallpox.

Topics: Acyclovir; Amantadine; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Herpes Simplex; Herpes Zoster; Humans; Idoxuridine; Influenza A virus; Keratitis, Dendritic; Methisazone; Ribavirin; Smallpox; Vidarabine; Virus Diseases

Recently we constructed a homology model of the enzyme thymidylate kinase from Variola virus (VarTMPK) and proposed it as a new target to the drug design against smallpox. In the present work, we used the antivirals cidofovir and acyclovir as reference compounds to choose eleven compounds as leads to the drug design of inhibitors for VarTMPK. Docking and molecular dynamics (MD) studies of the interactions of these compounds inside VarTMPK and human TMPK (HssTMPK) suggest that they compete for the binding region of the substrate and were used to propose the structures of ten new inhibitors for VarTMPK. Further docking and MD simulations of these compounds, inside VarTMPK and HssTMPK, suggest that nine among ten are potential selective inhibitors of VarTMPK.

Topics: Acyclovir; Antiviral Agents; Catalytic Domain; Cidofovir; Cytosine; Drug Design; Humans; Kinetics; Ligands; Molecular Docking Simulation; Molecular Dynamics Simulation; Mutation; Nucleoside-Phosphate Kinase; Organophosphonates; Small Molecule Libraries; Smallpox; Species Specificity; Structure-Activity Relationship; Thermodynamics; Variola virus; Viral Proteins

Eczema herpeticum can clinically resemble smallpox. On the basis of the algorithm for rapid evaluation of patients with an acute generalized vesiculopustular rash illness, our patient met criteria for high risk for smallpox. The Tzanck preparation was critical for rapid diagnosis of herpetic infection and exclusion of smallpox.

Topics: Acyclovir; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Dermatitis, Atopic; Diagnosis, Differential; Herpesvirus 3, Human; Humans; Kaposi Varicelliform Eruption; Male; Middle Aged; Necrosis; Simplexvirus; Smallpox; Treatment Outcome