Every second, someone around the world is infected with genital herpes. This amounts to 42 million new cases per year, and approximately 200 additional people will be affected by the time you finish reading this post. This surprising statistic was released by the World Health Organisation earlier this week.
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Genital herpes is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Are expression varies from no symptoms, through mild to recurrent genital ulcers. Once contracted, the virus persists for life, remaining latent or inactive in the nerve cells between recurrent outbreaks of ulcers. Currently there is no cure.
HSV is part of humans Family Herpesviridaeconsisting of other common DNA viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Varicella-Zoster virus. Both known types, HSV-1 and HSV-2, can cause genital warts, although the latter is the main cause, while HSV-1 is usually contracted earlier in life and usually manifests as cold sores or canker sores.
The newly published studyconducted by WHO and fellow researchers, has developed a mathematical model to analyze global data on new and existing cases in 2020, updating previous statistics. Researchers discovered that worldwide, more than one in five adults between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with genital herpes. This high clinical and psychological burden also comes with significant economic costs, with a recent study estimating an annual expenditure of over $35 billion in 2016. HSV-2 has also been associated with an increased risk of HIV infection.
Several antiviral medications exist to alleviate the severity of symptoms and reduce their frequency, while safe sex practices can reduce the risk of transmission. Yet no cure has yet been discovered. This is especially important for people with compromised immune systemsin whom serious complications occur much more often.
Efforts to develop vaccines have been underway for some time half a centurybut so far without success. This is likely due to HSV’s dormancy and its ability to evade the immune system advanced than other herpes virus infections, such as chickenpox and shingles, for which there are vaccines.
Two main courses strategies To eradicate the virus there are: prophylactic vaccines, to prevent initial infections, and therapeutic vaccines, to help people who are already infected. Several candidates are currently being assessed at different stages of development.
A potential game changer is gene editing. A recent one study published by researchers at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, introduced a new and potentially curative approach to combating the virus: targeted HSV gene editing. This technology uses vector molecules that seek out and target the virus, combined with enzymes that irreparably disrupt the virus’s DNA, only to be recognized by the body’s own immune system for final cleaning. This possibility has so far been tested in animal models, and only against HSV-1.
There is no doubt that genital herpes should be recognized as one of the most common and common diagnoses. Therefore, education and prevention efforts must be prioritized, alongside creative and cutting-edge science to tackle this ‘hidden epidemic’.