[Global Economic Times] Research has shown that long-term administration of antiviral drugs in low doses can lower the risk of developing and worsening eye diseases caused by shingles and reduce extreme pain.

Professor Elizabeth Cohen of New York University's Grossman College and Langone Health, and Professor Benny Howe Zheng of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) led a team that administered shingles to patients with shingles at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting held in Chicago on the 20th (local time). It was found that administering low-dose antiviral drugs for one year can reduce not only pain but also the risk of inflammation and infection, which can damage vision.

Professor Cohen said, "The current standard treatment of administering antiviral drugs for 7 to 10 days reduces the risk of chronic eye disease, but many people still suffer from chronic eye disease." He added, "It is possible to add low-dose antiviral therapy for one year to standard treatment." “I suggest that,” he said.

Shingles is caused when the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox in children, lies dormant in nerve cells for decades and then proliferates again for unknown reasons. It mainly occurs in adults over 50 years of age and those with weakened immune systems. The virus spreads through nerve pathways, causing a painful blistering rash on the skin.

In particular, if the virus invades the forehead and eye nerves, it causes herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). If the virus infects the cornea, it causes keratitis, and if it infects the inside of the eye, it causes iritis and sometimes glaucoma.

In this study, the research team divided 527 patients with herpes zoster eye disease into two groups at 95 medical centers in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand between November 2017 and January 2023. One group received 1,000 mg of antiviral medication daily for one year; A clinical trial (ZEDS) was conducted in which a placebo was administered to the control group.

As a result, patients who took the antiviral drug valacyclovir (product name Valtrex) for one year showed a 26% reduction in the risk of new or worsening eye diseases such as keratitis or iritis after 18 months compared to the placebo group.

또 항바이러스제 그룹은 위약 그룹에 비해 여러 질병이 재발할 위험이 12개월에는 30%, 18개월에는 28% 낮은 것으로 확인됐다.

항바이러스제 그룹은 18개월 후 통증 지속 시간이 위약 그룹보다 더 짧아지고 신경병증성 통증 치료제 필요성도 크게 줄어든 것으로 나타났다.

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