Herpes News and Research

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Herpes is an infection caused by two different but closely related viruses — herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or cold sores and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) or genital herpes. Both are easy to catch. They have similar symptoms (blisters or sores) and both can occur on different parts of the body. When the infection is on the mouth, it is called oral herpes. When it is on or near the sex organs, it is called genital herpes. There is no cure for herpes. Treatments are available to speed up the healing of the genital sores.

U.S. trial of new microbicide for HIV prevention to be tested in young women

Nearly half of all people infected with HIV/AIDS are now women, the majority of whom contracted the disease through sexual intercourse with male partners.

10 Jul 2007

U.S. NIH funded trial of VivaGel in sexually active young women commences

Starpharma Holdings Limited today announced the commencement in the U.S. of a trial to assess the safety and acceptability of SPL7013 Gel (VivaGel) in sexually active young women.

9 Jul 2007

Modified herpes virus - a killer of cancer cells

Scientists have developed a virus specifically designed to target cancer tissue while not affecting normal healthy tissue.

9 Jul 2007

Modified herpes simplex virus shows promise in early clinical trial

A virus that has been specifically designed by scientists to be safe to normal tissue but deadly to cancer is showing early promise in a preliminary study, researchers said at the ESMO Conference Lugano (ECLU), Switzerland.

9 Jul 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

Herpes virus hijacks DNA repair process

Scientists probing the details of viral infection have discovered an intriguing surprise: in mice, herpes viruses hijack their host cells' tools for fixing DNA damage and use those tools to enhance their own reproduction.

17 Jun 2007

Gene therapy delivery of nerve growth factors reverses erectile dysfunction in mice

Rats with erectile dysfunction, or ED, that were injected with a gene therapy vector containing either of two nerve growth factors were able to regain normal function after four weeks, according to a study conducted by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers.

5 Jun 2007

Gene therapy provides hope for peripheral neuropathy

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report that they have successfully used gene therapy to block the pain response in an animal model of neuropathic pain, a type of chronic pain in people for which there are few effective treatments.

1 Jun 2007

Herpes infection may be symbiotic

Mice with chronic herpes virus infections can better resist the bacterium that causes plague and a bacterium that causes one kind of food poisoning, researchers report in Nature.

17 May 2007

Scientists discover molecular mechanism that keeps HSV-1 activation restricted to a single gene for months or even years

By adulthood, most people have suffered at least one bout of painful cold sores brought on by the Herpes simplex virus 1, also known as HSV-1.

4 May 2007

Discovery may change thinking on how viruses invade the brain

A molecule thought crucial to ferrying the deadly rabies virus into the brain, where it eventually kills, apparently isn't.

20 Apr 2007

BioForce Nanosciences pursues support for ViriChip platform

BioForce Nanosciences continues their effort to fund development of the ViriChip platform, a patented system designed to rapidly and nondestructively detect and identify whole viruses.

12 Apr 2007

Antisocial behaviour in boys leads to poor health in men

A study of over 500 men born in the early 70s in Dunedin reveals that the costs associated with antisocial behaviour may be much higher than previously thought. The research led by scientists from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre based at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London is published in Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Apr 2007

New drug target for herpes viruses

Scientists in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Hidde Ploegh and the Harvard University lab of Rachelle Gaudet have solved the complex structure of a recently discovered protein that is found in a wide range of herpes viruses. This protein may prove to be a potential drug target.

11 Mar 2007

New drug target for herpes viruses

11 Mar 2007

Researchers wake up viruses inside tumors to image and then destroy cancers

They say this strategy could offer a novel way of treating many cancers associated with Epstein-Barr, including at least four different types of lymphoma and nasopharyngeal and gastric cancers.

1 Mar 2007

Herpes treatment could slow HIV progression in people living with both viruses

Treatment of genital herpes could slow the progression of HIV in people living with both viruses, according to a study published in the Feb. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

25 Feb 2007

Call for herpes simplex virus control measures for prevention of HIV transmission

Experts call for HSV control measures, including vaccine, to rank high on international HIV prevention and research agenda as exciting trial findings are published.

22 Feb 2007

Experimental vector vaccine reduces stillbirths from cytomegalovirus

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.

21 Feb 2007