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Approximately ONE
out of FOUR people in the United States has genital herpes. 27%
are women and 23% men. Hundreds of thousands of women acquire herpes
infections each year. Symptoms are often so subtle and non specific that
most of the affected don't know they have genital herpes.
Since genital herpes is such a common
infectious disease it has generated the need for the development of a
vaccine. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has
joined forces with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals to develop a vaccine research
to protect women against genital herpes.
This is called the
Herpevac Trial for Women.
and it is seeking healthy females between the ages of 18 and 30 who are
negative for both Herpes type 1 (the fever blister kind) and herpes type 2
(the genital herpes kind).
The study is being conducted at
approximately 17 sites across the United States and 7550 women will be
enrolled.
Current participating clinical sites are:
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
- Center for Clinical Studies, Houston, TX
- Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH
- Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA
- Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA
- Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
- Louisiana State University, New Orleans,
LA
- Primary Physicians Research, Pittsburg,
PA
- St Louis University, St Louis, MO
- University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
- University of Colorado Health Sciences
Center, Denver, CO
- University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
- University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, NC
- University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
- University of Utah Medical Center, Salt
Lake City, UT
- Westover Heights Clinic, Portland, OR
The herpes is family of viruses which
affect human beings. They are described with designation from virus 1
through 7.
Herpes type 1 ( HSV1)
It may cause fever blisters and sometime infect the eye. With the
advent of oral sex 30% of genital herpes infection are cause by this type.
Herpes virus 2 (HSV2)
The most common cause of genital herpes. When mother is infected can
cause herpes infection of the newborn. It has been found also in mouth and
tongue infections.
Herpes virus 3
(HV3) is the Herpes Zoster virus ( also called varicella zoster
virus). Varicella is chickenpox and chickenpox is the first contact
with herpes zoster. The infection caused by HV3 is commonly called "
shingles". Herpes zoster is a neurotropic virus because likes nerve
cells and cause skin blisters at the nerve cells endings on the skin
surface. This may cause the rash to have a " belt" like appearance ( hence
the name shingles) which typically follows over the skin area the
underlying nerve pathway. After the rash pain along the nerve may continue
for long time
Herpes virus 4
(HV4)
is the official name of Epstein Barr virus, the major cause of
infectious mononucleosis, or mono also known as the "kissing disease".
Herpes virus 5 (HV5)
also called CMV (cytomegalovirus) which is also a cause of mono and which
can be sexually transmitted., or transmitted through blood transfusions
People with AIDS seem to get infected with CMV which causes in them a
devastating disease.
Herpes virus 6
(HV6) is a recently found virus of the herpes family in the blood
cells of a few patients with variety of diseases. It is known to be the
cause of roseola in small children and can also cause other illnesses
associated with fever in children even when the typical roseola rash is
missing.
Herpes virus 7
(HV7) is even more recently observed. Like all human herpes
viruses, HV6 and HV7 are ubiquitous. They are so common that most of
humankind has been infected at some point - usually early in life. It is not
at all clear what clinical effects this virus causes.
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