Clinical effectiveness of pidotimod combined with valaciclovir in the treatment of recurrent genital herpes and its influence on T cell subsets

Objective To observe the clinical effectiveness of pidotimod combined with valaciclovir in the treatment of recurrent genital herpes (GH) and its influence on immune function. Methods A total of 72 recurrent GH patients were randomly divided into two groups (n=36): a control group and a treatment group. The control group was administered with valaciclovir tablets alone, while the treatment group was given pidotimod combined with valaciclovir tablets. Both groups were administered for consecutive three months. The venous blood samples were collected to evaluate their immune function before and after treatment, and the recurrence rate of the two groups was compared. Results Compared with the control group, the treatment group presented remarkable increases in the total clinical effective rate, with decreases in the recurrent rate (P<0.05). After treatment, the percentage of CD3⁺ and CD4⁺, and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio increased but the percentage of CD8⁺ decreased (P<0.05). Conclusions Pidotimod combined with valaciclovir can exert immune modulatory effects on recurrent GH patients, with good clinical effectiveness and reduced recurrence rate.