Medicines and prescriptions
What Is Suppressive Therapy? Meaning on Antiviral Labels
Suppressive therapy · say it: suh-PRESS-iv THAIR-uh-peeAlso written: suppression therapy, long-term suppression, chronic suppressive therapy
Short answer
Suppressive therapy means taking a medicine regularly to keep a long-term infection or condition quiet, so flare-ups happen less often.
What it means
Suppressive therapy is ongoing treatment that keeps a condition under control rather than treating a single episode. A common example is daily antiviral medicine (such as valacyclovir or acyclovir) for people with frequent genital herpes outbreaks. It is also used for some recurrent infections and, in other areas of medicine, for things like thyroid hormone suppression.
Labels for herpes antivirals list 'suppressive therapy' as a separate use from 'episodic therapy' (treating an outbreak when it starts). Suppressive dosing usually differs from outbreak dosing, which is why the label lists it separately. For herpes, suppression can also lower the chance of passing the virus to a partner, but does not remove that chance.
It does not get rid of the infection. The virus or condition is still there; the medicine keeps it quieter while you take it.
Where you may see it
- 'Indications' and 'Dosage' sections of valacyclovir and acyclovir labels
- Sexual health clinic letters
- Infectious disease treatment plans
📄 How it looks on a report
Suppressive therapy of recurrent genital herpes in immunocompetent adults.
🙅 What it does not mean
- It does not remove the infection from the body.
- It does not make passing on the infection impossible.
- It does not have to be lifelong; it is often reviewed over time.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “Suppressive therapy”
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💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Suppressive therapy”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Nitrofurantoin
an antibacterial medicine of the nitrofuran type, used for urinary tract infections
- Valacyclovir
an antiviral medicine. The label describes it as a deoxynucleoside analogue DNA polymerase inhibitor, and it is the hydrochloride salt of the L-valyl ester of acyclovir.
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Suppressive therapy” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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