This vaccine is good news for all people at risk of contracting an STI. More than one in 10 Americans age 49 and younger is infected with genital herpes, says Dr. Sita Awasthi, associate research professor in the division of infectious diseases at the Perelman School of Medicine. The candidate study for the RVX-001-PSS vaccine, a study of the characteristics of patients diagnosed with recurrent symptomatic genital herpetic disease, is carried out at the University Hospital of Southampton and at the Chelsea and Westminster hospitals in London (England).
While there is no cure for herpes, the severity of the virus varies over the lifespan of an infected person. Experts suggest that even if antiviral drugs destroy the active parts of the infection, only a small amount of the virus is needed to hide in nerve cells and remain inactive so that the herpes virus continues to persist in the body. Neonatal herpes is when a pregnant person transmits the infection to the fetus before, during, or immediately after delivery. People who have recently been diagnosed with herpes should be tested for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections.
Previously, Jerome and Aubert reported that the drug can eliminate more than 90% of the latent herpesvirus in nerve clusters near the faces of mice injected with AAVs carrying enzymes. Patients who are infected with both herpes and HIV may also have a higher concentration of HIV virus in their body due to the interaction between the herpes virus and the HIV virus. When a person experiences a prodrome and suspects that a recurrence will occur, they begin taking antiherpetic medications that reduce symptoms and shorten the duration of the outbreak. Taking antiviral medications can help you reduce the risk of transmitting genital herpes to your sexual partners.
Herpes medications may not work as well in patients who are very immunosuppressed and have been treated with these medications for a long time. This is encouraging news from researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where laboratory studies aimed at curing herpes simplex virus infections have continued despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A person with herpes who is transmitting the virus can be contagious even if they have no lesions or symptoms, which is why the patient population with genital herpes caused by HSV I is believed to be increasing. A person can transmit herpes to their partner at any time, although it is more likely when they have an outbreak.
Researchers are conducting additional preclinical studies on therapy in guinea pigs, which, unlike mice, naturally have recurrent outbreaks of latent herpes infections. It doesn't seem to involve the enzymes that cut the genes used in Hutch herpes studies, in which those molecular scissors work as expected. If a person contracts any form of herpes virus infection, they will have it for life, whether they have symptoms or not. Genital herpes cannot be transmitted to another part of the body, such as the arm, leg, or hand, after the first infection.
