Antiviral Medication in Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Part I: HSV, HPV

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are among the most prevailing infectious diseases in the world and important cause of morbidity and mortality. Especially STDs of viral etiology are difficult to cure. During the past decades, considerable progress has been made in the development of antiviral drugs. One of the oldest antiviral medications is acyclovir (ACV). It is approved to treat initial and recurrent genital herpes and as a suppressive therapy in severe recurrent genital infections as well. Drug resistance to ACV and related drugs is observed among immuno-compromised hosts, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients. Resistant infections can be managed by second-line drugs - foscarnet or cidofovir-but they are more toxic than ACV. In case of human papillomaviruses (HPV) there is no specific target recognized for the medication and that is why the substances used in HPV infection therapy are either antimitotics or immunomodulators. The Part I review focuses on the mechanisms of actions and mechanisms of resistance to antiviral agents used in the treatment of genital herpes and genital HPV infection. In Part II, we will show the therapeutic options in other sexually transmitted infections: hepatitis B, C and HIV.