Essay On Genital Herpes

Genital herpes is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in the world. More than 1 billion people host the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), and there is currently no immunization or cure for the infection. Despite its prevalence, the majority of the infected population is unaware that they carry the virus. Current methods to treat symptoms consist of drugs such as famciclovir and valacyclovir, which shorten the outbreaks. Although these solutions help reduce the resurgence of symptoms, they cannot prevent them nor new infections. For many years, scientists have been searching for viable ways to immunize people against this pandemic. But efforts have been unsuccessful until only very recently. A team of researchers working at the University of Pennsylvania may have created the first vaccine that can successfully neutralize the genital herpes virus.

Targeting three glycoproteins

The new vaccine developed at Penn targets three glycoproteins that are critical to the virus infection mechanism: gC2, gD2, gE2. This contrasts with previous efforts that targeted only gD2. According to Harvey M. Friedman, professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania who helped develop the vaccine, this helps the immune system fight HSV-2 more effectively …show more content…
Dr. Sita Awasthi, lead author of the study, says that if clinical trials on humans are equally successful, the new vaccine could prevent genital herpes from spreading worldwide and also reduce the number of new HIV infections. The greatest impact would be in Africa, the most affected region. Researchers are already in talks with pharmaceutical companies to start the first human trials before the vaccine is, hopefully, unleashed to the general public. The study was published in the journal PLOS