Conditions: Herpes Simplex Labialis
Keywords: Cold sores Zinc HSL Herpes simple labialis
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 157
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Evaluate the effectiveness of a topical preparation of zinc to treat cold sores.

Detailed description:
Zinc salts irreversibly inhibit herpes virus replication in vitro and are effective in treating herpes infections in vivo and have been shown in a clinical trial to be a effective topical treatment for HSL. Zinc salt solutions applied to herpetic lesions decrease viral load and markedly improve healing rates, relieving the symptoms of herpes as healing occurs. Zinc swabs contain 33 mmol/l of ionic Zinc in an emulsification of Benzalkonium chloride, glycerin, hydroxyethylcellulose, sodium chloride, and sodium hydroxide (ph 7.2). Zinc gluconate is monographed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS) and one of OTC indications for Zinc and its salts is for the treatment of cold sores.

Arms:
arm 1: Oral swabs containing homeopathic Zinc gluconate arm 2: placebo

Interventions: intervention 1: Zicam (Ionic zinc) intervention 2: placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 33mmol/l of ionic zinc intervention 2: placebo swab

Protocol document: