***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of clarithromycin in the treatment of Pityriasis Rosea ( PR ) . STUDY DESIGN Double blind r and omized controlled trial . PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Dermatology OPD , Military Hospital , Rawalpindi , from July 2008 to July 2009 . METHODOLOGY Patients aged above 10 years , diagnosed with PR , were r and omly assigned to two groups of 30 each to receive either clarithromycin or similar-looking placebo for one week . Neither the patient nor the treating physician knew to which group the patient belonged . Patients were assessed at 1 , 2 , 4 and 6 weeks after presentation and compared for complete , partial or no response . RESULTS Among the 60 patients , no significant difference was found between the two groups at 2 weeks after presentation ( p = 0.598 ) . In the placebo group , complete response was seen in 20 ( 66.7 % ) , partial response in 3 ( 10.0 % ) while no response was seen in 7 ( 23.3 % ) . In clarithromycin group , there was complete response in 23 ( 76.7 % ) , partial response in 3 ( 10.0 % ) and no response in 4 ( 13.3 % ) patients . CONCLUSION Clarithromycin is not effective in treatment of pityriasis rosea Background : Acyclovir is considered to be an effective treatment for pityriasis rosea but r and omized , blinded , placebo-controlled trials have not been performed . Aims : To test the efficacy of acyclovir in pityriasis rosea in a r and omized , triple – blind , placebo-controlled trial . Methods : Twenty seven patients with pityriasis rosea were r and omly allocated to receive placebo ( n = 13 ) or acyclovir ( 800 mg five times daily for one week ) ( n = 14 ) . The severity of disease was assessed by the pityriasis rosea area and severity index . Cure was defined as the absence of erythema , with no or minimal scaling . Results : The number of days ( mean ± st and ard deviation ) taken for cure was not significantly different between the two groups ( placebo 26.54 ± 9.14 days versus acyclovir 33.29 ± 9.49 days ; P = 0.0720 , t-test ; 95 % confidence interval of difference −0.65 to 14.14 days ) . Limitations : The sample size for the present study was calculated using data from an earlier study . As the st and ard deviation was not mentioned in that article , a common st and ard deviation of fifteen days was assumed . A study with a larger sample size may be more effective in detecting minor treatment differences between acyclovir and placebo , if they exist at all . Conclusion : Acyclovir is not an effective treatment for pityriasis rosea Objective : Pityriasis rosea ( PR ) is an acute self-limiting disease . Despite vigorous efforts by generations of research ers since nearly 150 years , present treatment modalities for PR are not very gratifying . Ultraviolet radiation has been recommended in PR , although only a few studies vali date this proposal . This study was conducted to explore the therapeutic effect of NBUVB on the symptoms , course , and severity of PR . Material s and Methods : This study involved a hundred patients who were r and omly divided into two groups , using computer-generated r and omization chart . Group A underwent treatment with fixed dose NBUVB of 250 mJ/cm2 three times ( nonconsecutive ) a week for 4 weeks . Group B formed the placebo group who did not receive any treatment . The two groups were compared with each other for the intensity of pruritis , course and duration of disease , and PR severity score ( PRSS ) . Results : The t values of improvement in PRSS score in Group A ( t = 12.796 ) were higher as compared with that in Group B ( t = 10.066 ) . Similarly , the t value of the pruritus scale in Group A ( t = 7.758 ) was higher than Group B ( t = 5.754 ) indicating the symptomatic improvement in itching . Conclusion : Fixed-dose NBUVB phototherapy result ed in marked improvement in the severity and symptoms of the disease as quantitatively assessed by PRSS BACKGROUND The association of human herpesvirus 6 ( HHV-6 ) and HHV-7 with pityriasis rosea suggests that systemic drugs directed against HHV may hasten recovery of patients with pityriasis rosea . OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to verify the efficacy of oral acyclovir in the treatment of pityriasis rosea . METHODS Eighty-seven consecutive patients were treated for 1 week with either oral acyclovir ( 800 mg 5 times daily ) or placebo . In all patients , the time of lesion clearing and the number of new lesions appearing during treatment were recorded . RESULTS On the 14th day of treatment , 79 % of treated patients fully regressed compared with 4 % of the placebo group . The lesions cleared in 18.5 days in treated patients and in 37.9 days in the placebo group . Clearance was achieved in 17.2 days in patients treated in the first week from onset and in 19.7 days in the patients treated later . On the 7th day , there were significantly fewer new lesions in patients treated in the first week than in those treated later . LIMITATIONS This trial was neither r and omized nor double blind . Objectivity was achieved by counting the lesions . CONCLUSION Acyclovir may be effective in the treatment of pityriasis rosea , especially in patients treated in the first week from onset , when replicative viral activity of HHV is probably very high BACKGROUND Pityriasis rosea is an acute self-limiting skin disorder of unknown aetiology . Recently human herpes virus 6 and 7 has been hypothesized to be the cause of pityriasis rosea . OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of acyclovir , an anti-viral drug , in the treatment of pityriasis rosea . MATERIAL S AND METHODS A r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled study of efficacy of oral acyclovir in the treatment of pityriasis rosea was conducted on 73 patients . Thirty eight r and omly selected patients were started on oral acyclovir . Thirty-five patients were prescribed placebo . The patients as well as the chief investigator were unaware of the therapeutic group to which patients belonged ( acyclovir or placebo ) . Patients in both the groups were evaluated clinical ly after 7 and 14 days following the first visit and the data were analysed . RESULTS Follow up data of 60 patients was available and these were included in the statistical analysis . 53.33 % and 86.66 % of the patients belonging to the acyclovir group showed complete resolution on the 7(th ) day and 14(th ) day respectively following the first visit compared to 10 % and 33.33 % of patients from the placebo group . The findings were statistically significant . CONCLUSION The study showed that high dose acyclovir is effective in the treatment of pityriasis rosea BACKGROUND Pityriasis rosea is a common self-limiting disease . UV light has been mentioned as helpful , but only a few studies substantiate this possibility . OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of UVB phototherapy in pityriasis rosea and the course of the disease after treatment . METHODS Seventeen patients with extensive pityriasis rosea were treated with unilateral UVB phototherapy in a bilateral comparison study . One joule of UVA was used as a " placebo " on the untreated side . The treatments were given five times per week for 2 weeks . The rate of clearing was monitored by estimation of the severity score . RESULTS Ten daily erythemogenic exposures of UVB result ed in substantially decreased severity of disease , greater than that on the untreated side in 15 of 17 patients . The overall reduction of severity score showed a significant difference after the third treatment ; the UVB irradiation was superior . However , during the follow-up period the two sides were indistinguishable in regard to severity score ( p = 0.6784 ) . No significant difference in pruritus was noted between the two sides ( p > 0.1638 ) . The duration of disease did not relate to the success of UVB phototherapy . CONCLUSION During the treatment period UVB phototherapy result ed in decreased severity of disease . However , the itching and the course of the disease were unchanged BACKGROUND Pityriasis rosea ( PR ) is a papulosquamous disease with an unknown aetiology , but recently the role of two herpes viruses human herpes virus 6 and human herpes virus 7 was defined as being the aetiology of PR . OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare a low dose ( 400 mg five times a day for a week ) anti-viral agent , acyclovir , with follow-up protocol for the treatment of PR . METHODS A r and omized , investigator-blind , prospect i ve , 4-week study was design ed . Sixty-four patients with PR presenting at the outpatient clinic were r and omly allocated to acyclovir ( 400 mg five times a day for 1 week ) or follow-up group . Fifty-four of them completed the period of study and their clinical responses such as improvement rate of erythema , and scaling and occurrence of complications were evaluated by two dermatologists using weekly photographic records . RESULTS Statistically , acyclovir was more effective than follow-up in reducing erythema at the end of the first , second , third and fourth week of treatment . Although the decrease in scaling was higher in the acyclovir group at the end of the first , second and third week of treatment , there was no statistical significance between two groups at the end of fourth week of treatment in the both groups . CONCLUSIONS According to our study , acyclovir may be more effective than follow-up in reducing erythema and shortening of duration of PR even in lower doses than was applied in previous studies . So given the safety of acyclovir , we suggest to our colleagues to consider this treatment when facing a patient suffering from this conundrum , at least in extensive or having pruritus ones Background : Pityriasis Rosea ( PR ) is an acute inflammatory and self-limiting skin disorder , sometimes with troublesome symptoms . To date , there are few treatments available for this disorder . Aim : Compare the traditional treatment with erythromycin to a newly introduced antiviral treatment acyclovir for PR . Material s and Methods : Patients with clinical ly confirmed diagnosis of PR , matching our exclusion criteria , were enrolled . They were r and omized in two groups that received high-dose oral acyclovir or erythromycin . The participants were evaluated two , four , and eight weeks after commencement of the study and followed for one year . Results : A total of 30 patients including 15 males and 15 females completed the study . After eight weeks , 13 patients in the acyclovir group experienced complete response , while in the erythromycin group only six patients had complete response ( P < 0.05 ) . Also , patients in the acyclovir group experienced faster resolution of pruritus in comparison with the erythromycin group ( not significant ) . No adverse drug reaction was detected in both groups . Conclusion : It seemed that a high-dose of oral acyclovir was a safe and effective therapy for PR , although this remained to be confirmed in larger studies BACKGROUND The study stemmed from an incidental observation of improvement in 2 patients with pityriasis rosea while receiving erythromycin . OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of erythromycin in patients with pityriasis rosea . METHODS A double-blind , placebo-controlled clinical study was performed in an outpatient setting in a major hospital . Ninety patients over a period of 2 years were alternatively assigned to treatment group or placebo group . Patients in the treatment group received erythromycin in divided doses for 14 days . The response was categorized as complete response , partial response , or no response . All patients were followed up for 6 weeks . RESULTS Both groups were comparable with regard to age at presentation , sex , and average duration of disease at the time of reporting to the clinic . Upper respiratory tract infection before the appearance of skin lesions was reported in 68.8 % of all patients . Complete response was observed in 33 patients ( 73.33 % ) in the treatment group and none in the placebo group ( P < .0001 ) . CONCLUSION Oral erythromycin was effective in treating patients with pityriasis rosea BACKGROUND Macrolides are prescribed in the treatment of pityriasis rosea despite conflicting results of the limited number of studies evaluating their role in its treatment . AIM A r and omized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of azithromycin on the clinical course of pityriasis rosea . METHODS Seventy patients of pityriasis rosea were given either azithromycin ( n=35 ) or placebo ( n=35 ) and were followed-up at 2 , 4 and 6 weeks . Pruritus was assessed in both groups using the visual analogue scale ( VAS ) . Change in the pityriasis rosea severity score ( PRSS ) and in the VAS were recorded as outcome measures and were compared statistically . RESULTS The decrease in PRSS from baseline through 2 , 4 and 6 weeks within both treatment ( P<0.001 ) and placebo ( P<0.001 ) arms was found to be statistically significant ; however , this change was not significantly different in the two groups ( P=0.179 ) . Similarly , the decrease in VAS was found to be statistically significant within both groups ( P<0.001 ) ; however , the change was comparable between the two groups ( P<0.937 ) . Analysis by Fisher 's exact test did not find a significant difference between the two groups for PRSS and VAS . CONCLUSION Azithromycin is not effective in 
    Output:
    
Symptomatic treatment is a reasonable option for pityriasis rosea , and the addition of acyclovir is justified for the control of symptoms and pruritus