Will There Ever Be A Herpes Cure
There are conflicting views on whether there will be a herpes cure or not, but since it infects so many people worldwide, researchers and scientists must create a herpes vaccine.
To find a treatment for the virus, the scientist first needs to understand the mechanism that enables the virus to hide in the nerve cells and go dormant for months or years. By tackling this problem, they might be able to kill the infection before it hides away.
In late 2020 and early 2021, while exploring the new genital herpes treatments, scientists came up with microbicides, which are chemicals that protect against infections caused by viruses, by killing microbes, before they enter the body. Studies have shown that this may be able to cure herpes and is considered a herpes vaccine progress in the last few years. Although this new revelation seems promising, there have been mixed results.
Use The Luminance Red
The Luminance RED is a breakthrough cold sore treatment that harnesses powerful light technology to shorten healing time and decrease the frequency of new outbreaks.
This FDA-registered device nourishes the skin with red light, which is metabolized to accelerate the bodys healing process and strengthen its defenses against future attacks. Regular use of the Luminance RED not only shortens the healing time of active outbreaks, but it can prevent future outbreaks altogether!
The Luminance RED was designed with ideal wavelength and irradiance specifications to maximize efficiency in treating and preventing cold sore outbreaks. Thanks to the Luminance RED, light therapy has become one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent unwanted cold sore and genital herpes outbreaks.
Is There A Vaccine For Herpes
As we mentioned previously, most people who contract the herpes infection may not experience any symptoms, which means the virus can at times go undetected in the body and the immune system might not react to it right away. This makes it difficult for scientist and medical researchers to make an effective herpes vaccine. Whenever a vaccine is developed, it mainly is created to target the part of your immune system that reacts to a virus or bacteria . The vaccine teaches your body how to kill the virus or bacteria before it affects your body and makes you sick. In the case of HSV, the virus that causes herpes, the immune system in most cases cant recognize the virus which makes it difficult to develop a herpes vaccine.
In the past, there have been some studies for the herpes vaccine and various herpes cure research, which have had good results. But most of these studies had animals as samples for the research and when the same tests were conducted on humans the results were not as promising as they were on the animals.
Currently, there are three anti-virals approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration , for genital herpes: Acyclovir , Valacyclovir , and Famciclovir . But for now, there arent any approved herpes vaccines.
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A Safe Organic Supplement To Replace All Herpes Vaccines
The HerpaGreens supplement is considered safe for use and free from major side effects as it contains only organic ingredients. However, customers should consult their healthcare provider before taking this supplement if they are pregnant, nursing, or if they are taking any OTC or prescription medications for a health condition.
Statistics revealed by the World Health Organization show that more than 500 million people in the world suffer from an HSV-2 infection that persists for a lifetime and often triggers a flare-up in response to stress. Both forms of the herpes simplex virus, the HSV-2 and HSV-2 can cause a herpes infection in newborns and could lead to blindness and other serious infections in those with an impaired immune system. The risk of an HIV infection is also increased by an HSV infection and may contribute to Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia.
Many people question why science has been unable to develop a herpes vaccine for so long when we have several for Covid-19 after just a few months. A recent study conducted by Dr. Houssein H. Ayoub, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics at Qatar University, and Dr. Laith Jamal Abu Raddad, Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University highlight the scale of HSV-2 burden in the U.S. and demonstrates the need for continuous surveillance and to develop prophylactic and therapeutic HSV-2 vaccines.
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Is There A Cure Or Treatment For Genital Herpes
There is no cure for genital herpes. However, daily use of antiviral medicines can prevent or shorten outbreaks. Antiviral medicines also can reduce the chance of spreading it to others.
Though several clinical trials have tested vaccines against genital herpes, there is no vaccine currently available to prevent infection. One vaccine trial showed efficacy among women whose partners had HSV-2, but only among women not infected with HSV-1. Efficacy was not observed among men whose partners had HSV-2. Another trial testing the same vaccine showed some protection from genital HSV-1 infection, but none from HSV-2.
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Next Steps For An Experimental Herpes Cure
Wilder: When do you anticipate moving to human trials?
Jerome: We want to do that as quickly as we possibly can, but first there are a few things we need to work out. We, first of all, want to generate similar data for herpes simplex virus 2 in a model system. Thats being lined up and happening now.
We are spending a lot of effort on ensuring safety and conducting studies looking at potential side effects. Getting to a human clinical trial is probably going to take at least the next three years, because the last thing we want to do is hurt someone.
Wilder: Reading your paper, I couldnt help wondering about other herpesviruses. Viruses like herpesviruses 4 and herpesvirus 6 can cause a great deal of complications for people. Could the meganucleases approach be effective for those other viruses?
Jerome: Sure, absolutely. Weve thought a lot about this.One point I want to make is that the research is very much focused on herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 right now. Our paper studied herpes simplex virus 1 because of the experimental model we used.
Herpes simplex virus 2 behaves almost identically. We do have to tweak the meganucleases a bit, and weve done that so that they recognize herpes simplex virus 2. We are working actively on right now.
Some of the most exciting work were doing must move beyond the herpesviruses. Weve thought some about HIV, although that tends to be a very difficult target in terms of getting the scissors to the right cells.
Terri Wilder, M.S.W.
What Treatment Is Available For Genital Herpes
Though genital herpes is not curable, it can be managed. Your physician may prescribe an antiviral medication, including acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir, to use during an outbreak. Over-the-counter pain medication can also be used to soothe symptoms. Your physician can provide advice on how to prevent transmission of the virus to sexual partners along with suggestions about how to discuss the topic of genital herpes openly.
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How Is Genital Herpes Treated
There is no cure for the herpes simplex virus. The blisters usually heal and go by themselves, so you may not always need treatment. There is antiviral medicines for herpes, which can: shorten outbreaks, relieve discomfort and stop symptoms from getting worse.
The antiviral treatment is most effective when you take it within the first five days of symptoms appearing. Avoid touching the blisters as this can also increase the risk of spreading the infection. If your herpes treatment requires you to apply cream to a sore, just gently pat the cream on, being careful not to rub around the surrounding area.
You can ease your symptoms by:
- keeping the affected area clean using plain or salt water to prevent blisters or ulcers from becoming infected
- applying petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, to any blisters or ulcers to reduce the pain when passing urine
- asking a healthcare provider to recommend painkilling creams
- avoiding tight clothing because it may irritate the blisters and ulcers.
Dont have sex until you or your partner have finished your treatment, and the blisters or ulcers have gone. If its your first outbreak, its sometimes advised that you check back with a healthcare provider before having sex again, to ensure that your symptoms have gone.
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What To Know If Your Cat Has Feline Herpes
Hearing that her cat had feline herpes was cause for recoil, but her vet quickly assured her that it could NOT be spread to humans or even dogs, and it was not the type associated with the sexually transmitted disease in humans. The real bad news was that, by the time of diagnosis, her other cat, Hawkins, had already been exposed to the virus. The only thing to do at that point was move forward with management.
After months of vet visits and antibiotics, Goldie and Hawkins finally stopped showing symptoms of feline herpes. As the vet explained to my mother-in-law, both of her cats were now carriers of the feline herpesvirus, and they might shed the virus when stressed. Cats infected with feline herpes might experience occasional flare-ups of their symptoms, especially in stressful situations, such as being introduced to a new pet, moving or a change in their routine. In this case, lowering stress meant more seclusion from the households other pets some rather rambunctious dogs.
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A Better Antiviral Than The Real Thing
Herpes causes cold sores and oral or genital STIs . The peptoids safely prevented herpes infections in mice when dabbed on their lips. Earlier tests on human cells grown in lab dishes showed the compounds also deactivated SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 the viruses that cause COVID and herpes, respectively.
Scientists also designed the drugs to be non-toxic to people. They are simple and inexpensive to make with an automated synthesizer and readily available chemicals.
You can make them almost as easily as you make bread in a bread machine, the Stanford researcher adds.
Peptides consist of short sequences of amino acids, with side chains bonded to carbon atoms in the molecules backbone. This structure is easily broken apart by enzymes. In peptoids, the side chains are instead linked to nitrogens in the molecular backbone, forming a structure that resists enzymes.
The researchers are planning to test them for activity against SARS-CoV-2 in mice. The team also founded the company Maxwell Biosciences to develop peptoids as clinical candidates to prevent or treat viral infections.
COVID-19 infection involves the whole body, once somebody gets really sick with it, so we will do this test intravenously, as well as looking at delivery to the lungs, Dr. Barron explains.
When I Found Out About It
I was 33 when got herpes. Initially it was really difficult for me to be able to recover from the devastation that I felt due to this. It was one of the worst feelings in my life, and I dont want this to happen to anyone else. I could not get over the depressed feeling I had for the first few months. I cried often, did not talk to anyone and felt ashamed of my life.
My social and family life was almost dead and I was very afraid to tell my family or anyone else about this. I felt completely alone with the secret about my herpes. But I knew deep inside my heart that I would have to tell my family about this if I wanted to get rid of this horrible infection.
Sometimes I felt like shouting loud but did not have the courage to do so. No doubt, this was the worst time period in my life. I just knew no one was going to accept me after knowing that I had herpes.
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How Does Genital Herpes Spread
Herpes can be spread when an infected person has lesions blisters and open sores on their body or when you do not have any symptoms. Taking antiviral medicine can help you reduce the risk of spreading genital herpes to your sexual partners. You can also:
- Inform your sexual partner that you have genital herpes.
- Use a condom every time you have sex.
- Refrain from having sex when you have symptoms.
- Abstain from performing oral sex if you have blisters or open sores around your mouth.
What Happens If I Dont Get Treated
Genital herpes can cause painful genital sores and can be severe in people with suppressed immune systems.
If you touch your sores or the fluids from the sores, you may transfer herpes to another part of your body, such as your eyes. Do not touch the sores or fluids to avoid spreading herpes to another part of your body. If you do touch the sores or fluids, immediately wash your hands thoroughly to help avoid spreading your infection.
If you are pregnant, there can be problems for you and your developing fetus, or newborn baby. See Im pregnant. How could genital herpes affect my baby? above for information about this.
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Herpes Cure: Why There Is None
With so many people carrying the herpes simplex virus , why is there nothing to combat it? Researchers have been looking for a cure and a vaccine for decades. Even with the focus being mostly on a vaccine, they havent been able to find anything. Scientists have also treaded into something called gene editing, but have unfortunately run into some roadblocks along the way. If youre not too sure what herpes even is, stick around cause youre about to learn.
Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease that is extremely contagious and stays with you for life. Genital herpes is usually caused by HSV-2, while oral herpes is normally caused by HSV-1. However, someone carrying oral herpes can give HSV-1 to anothers genital area through oral sex and vice versa. This gives herpes not just one but two outlets from where to spread.
Its said that about one in six people in the United States aged 14-49 have acquired genital herpes through HSV-2. The CDC states that the overall genital herpes statistic is likely to be higher, thanks to the possibility of getting HSV-1 in the genital region. Taking that into account, genital herpes statistics are often quoted at around 25 percent for women and 10 percent for men in the U.S. The craziest thing: most people dont know they have it!
Now, before we can throw words like cure and vaccine around, lets talk about what they are.
What exactly is herpes?
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Slicing And Dicing On A Molecular Level: Meganuclease And Crispr
Wilder: The article you published with your colleagues discusses the cutting enzymeits called meganuclease?
Jerome: Thats right.
Wilder: What exactly is meganuclease? Has it been used in any other kind of research, or is it something your team is pioneering?
Jerome: Meganucleases are essentially a fancy name for the molecular scissors that we use to locate the virus. They recognize a specific type of DNAin this case, 20 letters of DNA.The letters have to be in the perfect order the perfect combination. If the meganuclease sees the 20 letters in exactly the right order, it will make a cut in the DNA. Thats what we use to destroy the herpes.
Meganucleases have been around a very long time they actually evolved in yeast. Weve come to appreciate their biology over the last 20 years or so, and theyve been used for gene editing purposes for over a decade. Thats why we got into this.
Part of the reason you dont hear about meganucleases now is that, to some degree, theyve been sort of replaced by the CRISPR system. One of the things that we deal with, with any type of molecular scissorswhether its CRISPR or the meganucleases: You have to change it so that it will recognize the 20 letters in the right order.
The proteins that evolve naturally in yeast dont have anything to do with herpes. So we need to change the letters that theyre looking for. For a meganuclease, its quite a difficult process that can take months. For CRISPR, you can actually do that overnight.
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Is There A Cure For Genital Herpes
By | Oct. 14, 2010, 11:41 a.m.
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Is there a cure for genital herpes? and how do u no if someone has them?
No, there is no cure for herpes. Once people become infected, they will always carry the herpes virus. However, in most cases, outbreaks of herpes become fewer and weaker over the course of a few years. They usually end within five or six years.
People who have recurrences of herpes can take certain medications to help manage the infection. Using herpes treatments can speed up the healing of sores and prevent them from returning frequently. Some herpes treatments also decrease the likelihood of passing the virus on to someone else.
Symptoms of genital herpes include
- pain and discomfort in the genital area
- itching and burning sensations during urination
However, herpes does not always have symptoms. When someone does have symptoms, the sores can last up to several weeks and then go away.
Herpes is more contagious if an outbreak is present. Its less likely for the virus to spread if there is no sign of an outbreak. An outbreak or recurrence is most contagious until seven days after sores have completely healed when not even scabs are visible.
But herpes is also contagious when there are no symptoms. In fact, thats how most people get infected. Thats why its always important to use latex or internal condoms to reduce the risk of infection.