Little evidence was found for some outcomes critical to making decisions in trials comparing medicines to placebo or comparing different medicines to treat first or recurrent episodes of genital HSV infection. Important patient outcomes should be measured in clinical trials, such as genital HSV transmission and acquisition, HIV transmission and acquisition, quality of life and pain. There were few available data for direct comparisons of different medicines, in particular for comparisons with famciclovir. There were also few studies comparing the different dosages of the medicines. Future research could use the dosages recommended in these guidelines as comparators. Equity issues, acceptance of and compliance with different medicines and regimens should also be explored in people with genital HSV infections. There were also few data for key populations, such as people living with HIV, people who are immunocompromised and pregnant women. In reports of clinical trials, more information can also be provided that would allow for the critical appraisal of the clinical trials; this can be done by following the standards for reporting of randomized controlled trials, in particular for reporting the methods of randomization and allocation concealment and blinding.