{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T21:55:49Z","timestamp":1790805349671,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"5","funder":[{"name":"Honeylab Ltd, Tauranga New Zealand"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,17]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To compare New Zealand medical grade kanuka honey with topical aciclovir for the treatment of herpes simplex labialis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Prospective parallel randomised controlled open-label superiority trial.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>76 community pharmacies across New Zealand between 10 September 2015 and 13 December 2017.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>952 adults randomised within the first 72\u2009hours of a herpes simplex labialis episode.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Interventions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Random assignment 1:1 to either 5% aciclovir cream or medical grade kanuka honey (90%)\/glycerine (10%) cream, both applied five times daily.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The primary outcome was time from randomisation to return to normal skin (stage 7). Secondary outcomes included time from randomisation to stage 4 (open wound), time from stage 4 to 7, maximal pain, time to pain resolution and treatment acceptability.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Primary outcome variable: Kaplan-Meier-based estimates (95%\u2009CI) for the median time in days for return to normal skin were 8 (8 to 9) days for aciclovir and 9 (8 to 9) for honey; HR (95%\u2009CI) 1.06 (0.92 to 1.22), p=0.56. There were no statistically significant differences between treatments for all secondary outcome variables. No related serious adverse events were reported.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>There was no evidence of a difference in efficacy between topical medical grade kanuka honey and 5% aciclovir in the pharmacy-based treatment of herpes simplex labialis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Trial registration number<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>ACTRN12615000648527;Post-results<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2018-026201","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,15]],"date-time":"2019-05-15T06:25:24Z","timestamp":1557901524000},"page":"e026201","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":52,"title":["Kanuka honey versus aciclovir for the topical treatment of herpes simplex labialis: a randomised controlled trial"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0949-0555","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alex","family":"Semprini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Singer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5327-3027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irene","family":"Braithwaite","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Shortt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Darmiga","family":"Thayabaran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melanie","family":"McConnell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Weatherall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Beasley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121422183080000_9.5.e026201.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wald A , Corey L . 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