There is no cure for genital herpes. However, daily use of antiviral medications can prevent or shorten outbreaks. Antiviral medicines can also reduce your chance of infecting it to others. Problems of this magnitude demand the attention of the world's best researchers.
That's why Fred Hutch's scientists, with extensive experience in virology, have made the study of human herpesviruses a priority. Fred Hutch scientists are studying human herpesviruses in the hope of finding better treatments, vaccines and cures. Teams of researchers are exploring the epidemiology of genital herpes. They use advanced microscopy and immunology to study where these viruses hide in tissues and how they are controlled by immune cells embedded near sites of infection in the body.
They want to know what causes herpesviruses to reactivate and how antibodies and T-cells that fight infections control infections. Keith Jerome and staff scientist Dr. Martine Aubert has garnered worldwide attention for her work using gene therapy to attack HSV, which is responsible for cold sores and genital herpes. The team has designed an enzyme that cuts herpes genes and that lodges itself in the groups of nerves where the virus hides.
In mice, this technique destroys up to 95% of the latent virus. The researchers hope to test this approach in humans once their preclinical studies are finished. T cells embedded in tissues where latent HSV-2 hides are known to play a role in controlling the virus. Hutch scientists are also exploring how B cells, the immune system's factories that produce antibodies, also work to keep the virus under control.
Hutch researchers hope to leverage this knowledge to develop immunotherapies that control reactivation, reduce transmission to sexual partners, and design vaccines to prevent infection. The immune system is extremely complex, and Hutch's research on how it responds to herpes has yielded surprising information. Jennifer Lund discovered that, in response to genital herpes, a type of T cell thought to suppress inflammation actually stimulates the immune response. His team is exploring how these cells work to control the virus, particularly in mucosal tissues, where infections begin research that could help develop a herpes vaccine.
In another surprising discovery, Hutch researchers from the Corey Laboratory discovered that HSV-2 uses a small protein to help repair damaged nerves. As the virus travels along the nerves, it repairs them so that it can spread the infection to other tissues. The team is studying whether this newly discovered (and rare) nerve growth factor could be used to reduce nerve damage, known as neuropathy, which is often a side effect of chemotherapy in patients with cancer. Cytomegalovirus, or human herpesvirus 5, can cause loss of vision or hearing and represents a risk of brain damage to newborns infected during pregnancy.
However, it is also an extremely common virus that remains latent but harmless in the human body throughout life. However, it can reactivate and pose a lethal threat to immunocompromised patients, especially those recovering from a transplant. For this reason, the control of CMV has been a cornerstone of research on the Fred Hutch virus since the early days of bone marrow transplantation. The Epstein-Barr virus, or human herpesvirus 4, is so common that virtually everyone can expect to be infected throughout their lifetime.
Long implicated in infectious mononucleosis, it has more recently been associated with multiple sclerosis, a disease that weakens nerves. BVE is also associated with Burkitt lymphoma, a rare childhood cancer in the U.S. UU. But endemic in some parts of Africa.
Fred Hutch researchers discovered a powerful antibody that can block EBV, which could contribute to the development of a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus. Human herpesvirus 6 is responsible for roseola, a common and usually mild rash in infants. However, like cytomegalovirus, it can reactivate and pose a serious threat to patients recovering from a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant, and has been the subject of research at Fred Hutch. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent organization that acts as UW Medicine's cancer program.
While there is no cure for herpes, the severity of the virus varies over the lifespan of an infected person. There is currently no cure for the virus, but there are treatments that can reduce the symptoms and infectiousness of the disease. Medications have come a long way in helping to suppress herpes, and it is possible that it can be cured in the future. Herpes can hide in nerve cells for a long time before becoming active, making it difficult to find a cure.
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