Alopecia Following Oral Acyclovir for the Treatment of Herpes Simplex Keratitis

In a case report from 2014, a 32-year-old female developed alopecia after being treated with oral acyclovir for herpetic keratouveitis. The patient was prescribed prednisolone acetate, atropine sulfate, and 400 mg of oral acyclovir twice daily. Although her keratouveitis improved within three weeks, she experienced significant hair loss without any drug eruptions. Upon discontinuation of oral acyclovir, her alopecia completely resolved after three months. This case suggests that alopecia may be a rare but possible side effect of oral acyclovir treatment. Prior to this report, alopecia induced by acyclovir had not been documented. The patient did not have any other conditions or was taking any other medications that could have caused the hair loss. The mechanism by which acyclovir may cause hair loss is not clear, but the full recovery of hair after stopping the medication indicates a likely association.