When should you initiate acyclovir therapy in a neonate?

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following interrelated editorials by Kimberlin and Long place the findings of Caviness et al regarding herpes simplex infection in young infants into a clinical framework. The editorialists delineate their personal approach and recommendations for the empiric use of acyclovir therapy; they illustrate the variations in practice that result when there is a shortfall of evidence. These perspectives indicate the concept that there is room for guidance flavored by experience and personal weighting of risk: benefit ratios. —William F. Balistreri, MD, Editor, The Journal of Pediatrics