Why it's hard to create a cure. Herpes is difficult to cure due to the nature of the virus. HSV infection can hide in a person's nerve cells for long periods of time before returning and reactivating the infection. 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. Like the common cold, herpes is a widespread disease with no cure. People infected with the herpes virus are infected for life. They have no choice but to manage outbreaks when they occur and expect less frequent outbreaks to occur in the future.
There is no cure or preventive treatment such as a vaccine. There is no cure for herpes. Antiviral medications, such as acyclovir, famciclovir, and valacyclovir, may help reduce the severity and frequency of symptoms, but they cannot cure the infection. Genital herpes is a major health problem worldwide: beyond the possible pain and discomfort experienced by people living with the infection, the associated social consequences can have a profound effect on sexual and reproductive health, says Dr.
Ian Askew, director of the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research of the World Health Organization (WHO). No company has successfully developed a market-ready herpes vaccine; however, several HSV vaccines have undergone phase I and II trials. At this time, sores and other symptoms of herpes are treated with one of several antiviral medications. Pharmaceutical companies are eager to discover a cure for herpes, but first they must overcome an extremely lengthy and expensive research process.
The first step will be to repeat their experiments with HSV-2 in guinea pigs, which, unlike mice, experience natural reactivations of herpes virus infections, just like humans. Latent herpes viruses hide in groups of nerve cells called ganglia, and researchers have found that some nodes are harder to reach than others. Until the herpes cure becomes a reality, you can continue to use current herpes treatments to control outbreaks. Five years ago, the team reported that they had damaged the genes of 2% to 4% of the herpes virus in infected mice.
With strategic care, you can prevent future herpes outbreaks and avoid the painful and uncomfortable process of treating lesions after they appear. Acyclovir is an antiviral medication that treats infections caused by the herpes simplex virus, including genital herpes. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV) is mainly transmitted by oral contact and causes an oral herpes infection, sometimes causing painful sores in or around the mouth (“cold sores”). If you have any of the symptoms of genital herpes, such as red, cracked sores around your genitals or rectum, ask your doctor to test your blood for HSV antibodies.
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. Advances in herpes cure research over the past five years are largely due to a series of improvements in gene-editing tools.
