Safety of alternative antiviral agents for neonatal herpes simplex virus encephalitis and disseminated infection

To review the evidence describing the safety of ganciclovir and foscarnet in neonates in order to guide treatment for central nervous system or disseminated herpes simplex infections in cases of acyclovir shortage or resistance. PubMed, Ovid Medline, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts were searched using the thesaurus and text-word terms "ganciclovir" and "foscarnet," with birth to 1 month age limits. Thirty-two eligible publications describing safety in neonates were identified. In 340 neonates treated for cytomegalovirus (CMV), life-threatening neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count 0.2 mg/dL occurred in