The herpes virus continues to be one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world today, and infected individuals can experience frustrating symptoms that can be painful and uncomfortable, and there is a stigma attached to people with herpes that can cause depression and frustration, due to the fact that there is still no known cure.  Doctors and medical specialists are working tirelessly to come up with a vaccine as well as a cure, so there is definitely hope that one day this will come to pass.

Currently, approximately one sixth of the world population has some form of herpes, and in the US alone, it has been estimated that up to 50,000 individuals are carrying this virus.  Many people experience outbreaks that can occur up to four times a year, and although it has been documented that each outbreak is less severe than the last, it can still be a very frustrating and disheartening disease.

Although herpes is not considered fatal, those who experience more severe symptoms can be left feeling tired and weak after an outbreak, and the skin rashes and blisters that accompany an outbreak can be extremely painful.  There are many different medications that can alleviate the pain, and there are steps that can be taken to minimize pain as well.  If sores are present during urination, many people find comfort by urinating through a tube of some sort in order to prevent the urine from making contact with the sores, and there are also over the counter pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen that can alleviate pain and soreness.

Since herpes still remains a mystery due to the fact that it can remain in the body (dormant or active) for an entire lifetime, many people that are diagnosed with the disease feel like they have been handed their fate.  There is hope, however, as scientists and medical professionals are doing whatever they can to find a proper vaccine against the disease.  Although recent clinical trials have stated unfortunate failures in test subjects, the medical world is determined to create a vaccine that works properly in humans.

Since there is no known vaccine or cure to date, the medical world is continuing to focus on pain management as well as testing medications that can help control the virus instead of eradicate it completely.  Antiviral medications work to hinder the growth and reproduction of the virus inside the body, which in turn helps to decrease the amount of outbreaks.  Natural remedies like Green Tea and Lysine supplements are also proving to be a positive step towards lowering the amount of yearly reoccurrences.

Although these medications do not completely kill the virus, they help patients manage their symptoms by relieving the amount of pain and decreasing the number of outbreaks.

The good news is that in the past year, there has been some new hope for a herpes vaccine.  There are still a wide variety of tests that need to be done as well as clinical trials, but for the first time in a long time there is some hope.  A new herpes vaccine was tested in Houston, Texas, and it is said that if it works like it should, it can possibly eliminate herpes outbreaks as well as put the entire virus into a remission state.

The University of Queensland has recently received approval to begin the first phase of a clinical trial for the first HSV-2 vaccine. This is great news, as Professor Ian Frazer has stated that there is the possibility that if successful, the vaccine will be available to the public within six years’ time.  The University is currently seeking volunteers who are healthy and have never experienced cold sores or herpes symptoms to take place in the trial. The age group they are seeking is between 18 and 45.  The hope for this clinical trial is that these healthy individuals will develop an immunity to herpes after three doses of the vaccine.

While testing is still in its early phases, the possibility of a herpes (HSV-2) vaccine is slowly becoming more of a reality every day, bringing hope to all of those afflicted with the condition.

Even though there have been some disappointments in finding a reliable vaccine for herpes, the fact that doctors and scientists are still working hard in order to eradicate this disease is a very positive sign indeed.  There may come a day in the not so distant future that herpes is merely a disease of the past.