Use of High-Dose Oral Valacyclovir During an Intravenous Acyclovir Shortage: A Retrospective Analysis of Tolerability and Drug Shortage Management

Introduction In late 2011, a shortage of IV acyclovir led to the need to empirically substitute high-dose oral valacyclovir (HDVA) to conserve IV acyclovir for patients with confirmed herpes simplex virus (HSV) meningitis or encephalitis. This report describes the management of the most recent national IV acyclovir shortage by the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH), Chicago, IL, USA, and the use of HDVA. Secondarily, we assessed the safety and tolerability of HDVA as an alternate to IV acyclovir during this shortage.