It will still be a long time before these experiments lead to the first human trials of gene therapy to cure herpes. Jerome estimates that there are at least three years to go. 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. Antiviral treatments can reduce outbreaks of genital herpes, but they are not a cure. There is currently no cure for the virus, but there are treatments that can reduce the symptoms and infectiousness of the disease. Advances in herpes cure research over the past five years are largely due to a series of improvements in gene-editing tools.
Currently, there is no cure for HSV-1 or HSV-2, although people with both types of herpes can take antiviral medications such as Valtrex to control their symptoms and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their partners. In the case of herpes, a cure would completely eliminate the herpes virus from your body, while a vaccine would treat or prevent it. Keith Jerome began to explore the idea that lifelong herpes virus infections could be cured by using gene therapy tools to cut DNA. Medications have come a long way in helping to suppress herpes and it is possible that it can be cured in the future.
But why isn't there a vaccine or cure for one of the most dreaded (and common) STIs? And are we closer to finding out? Herpes can hide in nerve cells for a long time before becoming active, making it difficult to find a cure.
