[Music] acyclovir is an antiviral drug that is used to treat herpes simplex and varicella zoster viruses in this mnemonic video i'll teach you an easy way to remember everything you need to know about acyclovir for test day here we go for this mnemonic we are in the high school library where a band of students is trying to use the printer in the library we often see these large recycling bins right next to the printers right i bet you've noticed them with all the nclex studying you're doing in the library anyway this recycling bin is our symbol for the drug acyclovir get it recycling for acyclovir when you see a cyclovir on your exam think back to our anchoring symbol for this scene this recycling bin next let's talk about what a cyclovir does the printer obviously isn't functioning properly all the paper is shooting out of the printer right into the recycling bin take a look at the screen and you'll see a symbol indicating that the printer has a virus that must be what's causing the printer to malfunction like this the virus here should help you remember that acyclovir is an antiviral drug meaning that it is used to kill viruses and not bacteria or fungi another easy way to remember that acyclovir is an antiviral is right in its name acyclovir that veer at the end can help you remember we're talking about viruses here so exactly what viruses does acyclovir treat let's keep watching to find out now the boy is going to be late to band practice he was supposed to bring his sheet music but with the printer virus i don't think that's going to happen maybe he can share music with another person who plays the harp that's right see that simple harp in his hand this guy is just a beginner so he is learning the harp on a small simple harp this simple harp is our symbol for herpes simplex virus harp for herpes and simple for simplex get it there are actually two types of herpes simplex virus herpes simplex 1 which is oral herpes also known as cold sores and herpes simplex 2 which describes genital herpes but not to worry acyclovir treats both types of herpes so now when you see herpes simplex on test day just know that acyclovir is the drug you should be looking to give ah man the printer virus is really making this printer act up and it just squirted red ink all over the boy's brand new varsity jacket this varsity jacket is our symbol for varicella zoster varsity for varicella get it you're probably more familiar with varicella zoster by its other name chickenpox you know those red ink spots on the varsity jacket also remind me of the visual appearance of chickenpox since chickenpox causes small red lesions all over the body just use this red spotted varsity jacket to help you remember varicella zoster also known as the chickenpox virus this is to help you remember that another use for acyclovir is for treating chickenpox or varicella next let's talk about a potential adverse effect of acyclovir while trying to protect his new varsity jacket the boy dropped his bag of jelly beans jelly beans makes for a great snack at school but not after they've been dropped on the floor by the way doesn't the shape of these jelly beans kind of remind you of kidneys in the pixerized universe we use jelly beans to represent the kidney so these falling jelly beans can help you remember that acyclovir can cause kidney injury or nephrotoxicity acyclovir can actually crystallize in the tubules of the kidney to cause damage to the kidneys which manifests as elevations in bun and creatinine or a decrease in urine output levels in order to prevent this side effect acyclovir should be infused at a slow rate and the patient should be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids there's the bell we better wrap up before the next class starts acyclovir is an antiviral medication that is used to treat herpes simplex virus as well as the varicella zoster virus a major adverse effect of a cyclovir is nephrotoxicity so questions containing patients with abnormal bun creatinine and urine output should cause concern for the patient's safety to prevent kidney injury make sure the infusion rate is set within the appropriate limits and make sure the patient is drinking plenty of fluids alright time for band practice i'll leave you here in the library so you can keep studying you're doing great i'll see you in the next one thanks for watching for more videos like this one subscribe to our channel and check out our newest lessons for more resources on this topic including fact lists and interactive review images click the image next to the more here arrow i'll see you next time