Treatment with levamisole of recurrent herpes genitalis.

A double-blind study was carried out to investigate the possibility of therapeutic effect of levamisole on recurrent progenital herpes. One hundred and nine patients, including 53 females, entered the study, but only 75 completed. Levamisole, 50 mg three times daily for 3 days, was started at the first sign of recurrence. The study period consisted of 6 visits or 12 months, whichever came first. No statistical differences were observed between levamisole and placebo groups when comparing the duration of the lesion and the degree of pain, although less pain was observed among those on levamisole. The interval between attacks was increasingly prolonged in the levamisole-treated group, and reached a significant level at the sixth visit. However, analysis on the basis of mean cumulative number of days between attacks showed no significant differences throughout the study period. Because of occasional neutropenia and generalized urticaria, and because of the absence of clear-cut clinical improvement of statistical significance, levamisole was considered of limited benefit to patients with recurrent genital herpes infection.