Double blind trial in the treatment of herpes simplex and herpes zoster with adenine arabinoside and idoxuridine

In a double blind trial adenine arabinoside (Vidarabine) and Idoxuridine (IDU) were tested in herpes simplex and herpes zoster infections. Adenine arabinoside covered 19 patients with HSV and 6 with HZ while IDU 19 with HSV and 6 with HZ. From the statistical analysis it was found that Vidarabine acts shorter than IDU in HSV P<0.01, while in HZ no significant difference P<0.5 was found, possibly due to the small number of patients tested.