Why isn't there a herpes vaccine?

[Amused]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Mainly because it's a virus, and they have no idea how a virus works nor how to stop them. Why do you think there's never been a vaccine for the common cold? Hopefully in our lifetime they will figure these things out. Viruses cause a lot of sickness and death in the world. Finding a vaccine that stops/neutralizes them would probably earn someone a Nobel prixe among other honors and $$$$$$$$$. (for the drug company that held the patent)

Wow, I guess the Chicken Pox, Small Pox, Hepatitis A and B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Yellow Fever and Polio vaccines don't exist, huh? Because they're all viruses as well.

BTW, there have been Nobel prizes awarded for the creation of vaccines. Look it up on Google.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Mainly because it's a virus, and they have no idea how a virus works nor how to stop them. Why do you think there's never been a vaccine for the common cold? Hopefully in our lifetime they will figure these things out. Viruses cause a lot of sickness and death in the world. Finding a vaccine that stops/neutralizes them would probably earn someone a Nobel prixe among other honors and $$$$$$$$$. (for the drug company that held the patent)

Wow, I guess the Chicken Pox, Small Pox, Hepatitis A and B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Yellow Fever and Polio vaccines don't exist, huh? Because they're all viruses as well.

BTW, there have been Nobel prizes awarded for the creation of vaccines. Look it up on Google.

Actually, you bring up some good points. IIRC, chicken pox and smallpox are both varieties of herpes (at least, one of them is).

 

[DaShen]

Because you touch yourself at night... j/k

Some viruses are very prone to adaptation.

 

[pclstyle]

what you're looking for isn't a vaccine, it's a mode of treatment, i.e. "cure"


make sure you're clear when you tell the doc, mmkay?

 

[getbush]

I want to add and reiterate, we actually do know quite a bit about a lot of viruses. There are a couple of big problems off the top of my head. 1. It is very hard to cease action, reproduction etc. of the virus w/o killing the patient's cells as well. 2. Certain types of viruses, and I'm not sure but I think most, change very quickly. This has to do with the haphazard way the replicate genetic information. They don't have the controls and repair mechanisms of higher beings, therefore mutations come about much faster.

There is not just one virus that causes the common cold anymore, but many many variations.

Everyone just take a couple semesters of microbiology and immunology, ok?

as an example - There are different types of the AIDS virus, some are more predominant in some regions than others. - Also, AIDS is of a type that really does mutate quite fast - it's a retrovirus, look it up if you wish. The drugs that they come up with often in many patients lose effectivness with time because of the mutations going on.

ok i'm ranting now but this is the main concept -

You have someone with a bacterial infection - they have millions upon millions of bacteria reproducing inside them and causing problems - You give them an effective antibiotic. Now, as these bacteria are reproducing at a high rate as bacteria do, and in high numbers, you are getting mutants. Maybe a mutation that has no effect, maybe it is a mutation that creates a nonviable organism that dies on its own, but maybe, just maybe, one pops up that all of a sudden has a mutation that gives it resistance to your drug. Boom, what happens, you kill most of the others off leaving your super mutant, and what does it do? It multiplies in the face of your drug. Giving antibiotics selects for resistant bugs. And that's how resistant strains come about, and it is a problem. This is why we have to be careful with our use of antibiotics and not and them out to every mom who's kid has a viral infection just to appease her, b/c it only does harm to our overall situation. Some have suggested that we are living in a golden age of antibiotic effectiveness, because drug development simply cannot keep up with the rate of bacterial mutation.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Because God hates sin.

Thump that bible any harder and you may hurt yourself

 

[IceBergSLiM]

cuz valtrex wouldnt make any money.

th emoney isnt in the cure its in finding a way to make you live with it.

 

[shortylickens]

Thats true, and as I seem to recall, we have about 2000 varieties of the so-called "common" cold. After you get over each one, you are immune, but theres a butt-load left to get sick from.
You ever notice how each cold is a little bit different?
Sometimes the sore throat is a little but stronger, sometimes you dont get sniffles, sometimes pink gnomes invade your house and annex your underwear drawer. (OK, that was probably a fever, but you get the idea right?)

 

[ruffilb]

Originally posted by: The Battosai

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: bersl2

Originally posted by: Shawn
Why hasn't one been developed yet?

From the Wikipedia article on herpes:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States is currently in the midst of phase III trials of a vaccine against HSV-2. The vaccine has only been shown to be effective for women who have never been exposed to HSV-1. Overall, the vaccine is approximately 48% effective in preventing HSV-2 seropositivity and about 78% effective in preventing symptomatic HSV-2. Assuming FDA approval, a commercial version of the vaccine is estimated to become available around 2008.

Why has it only been tested on women?

i'd just play it safe. less than 100% effective? no thanks

Nothing's 100% effective.

 

[yhelothar]

 

[getbush]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: wicka
Hey.
Why isn't there an AIDS vaccine?

ZING

AIDS vaccine doesn't work because HIV attacks the immune system, thus even a small weak dose of it would be too much for the immune system to handle.
Herpes, on the other hand, is different and should work. There is already a chicken pox(herpes simplex 3) vaccine.

You don't know what you are talking about. Vaccines are not the actual virus in small doses. They contain a specific chunk of the virus, which we get from recombinant DNA technology. The genes for a specific part of a virus are inserted into a bacterium or yeast, and they grow these parts for us. The parts are then injected as a vaccine and your immune system produces antibodies to the parts. That way, if you come in contact with an actual attacker, your immune system has the right antibodies and takes care of it. The individual parts do not have the action of a full virus.

 

[thesurge]

i thought 80% of american adults have some form of herpes.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Because God hates sin.

Exactly. Like unwanted pregnancy, and AIDS, herpes is God's Righteous Punishment for immoral sexual behavior.

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: getbush

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

Originally posted by: wicka
Hey.
Why isn't there an AIDS vaccine?

ZING

AIDS vaccine doesn't work because HIV attacks the immune system, thus even a small weak dose of it would be too much for the immune system to handle.
Herpes, on the other hand, is different and should work. There is already a chicken pox(herpes simplex 3) vaccine.

You don't know what you are talking about. Vaccines are not the actual virus in small doses. They contain a specific chunk of the virus, which we get from recombinant DNA technology. The genes for a specific part of a virus are inserted into a bacterium or yeast, and they grow these parts for us. The parts are then injected as a vaccine and your immune system produces antibodies to the parts. That way, if you come in contact with an actual attacker, your immune system has the right antibodies and takes care of it. The individual parts do not have the action of a full virus.

lol, don't mind him, he doesn't pay attention to small insignificant things the rest of us know as "science."

there are many variables when taking into consideration the development of a vaccine, but in the case of HIV, the problem is that the infectious proteins are constantly mutating (rather, the RNA keeps mutating), thus making it difficult for us to target all HIV derivatives.


=|

 

[purbeast0]

because there is no money in a cure ... there is money in a treatment.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: thesurge
i thought 80% of american adults have some form of herpes.

Yep. Cold sores are herpes. Chicken/smallpox (forgot which one it was) is also herpes.

 

[thesurge]

According to wikipedia, if you have/had chickenpox, you have herpes.

 

[T9D]

I bleieve they do have a vaccine for Herpes. It's just not on the market yet and still being tested to see if it's really going to work well.

I know this because a girl friend of mine has herpes *shudders*. If she tested negative they were going to give her vaccine shots to participate in a study. But turns out she had it so it was pointless after that.

 

[bersl2]

Originally posted by: thesurge
According to wikipedia, if you have/had chickenpox, you have herpes.

There are eight kinds of herpes in humans. The OP was most likely talking about HSV2, which is not HSV1 (cold sores) or chickenpox.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: The Battosai

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: bersl2

Originally posted by: Shawn
Why hasn't one been developed yet?

From the Wikipedia article on herpes:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States is currently in the midst of phase III trials of a vaccine against HSV-2. The vaccine has only been shown to be effective for women who have never been exposed to HSV-1. Overall, the vaccine is approximately 48% effective in preventing HSV-2 seropositivity and about 78% effective in preventing symptomatic HSV-2. Assuming FDA approval, a commercial version of the vaccine is estimated to become available around 2008.

Why has it only been tested on women?

i'd just play it safe. less than 100% effective? no thanks

A vaccine doesn't have to be 100% effective(or rather, 100% of the population doesn't need to be made immune) to stop a virus. If enough people are protected, then there aren't enough humans left to be carriers, I think this is called herd immunity.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: thesurge
According to wikipedia, if you have/had chickenpox, you have herpes.

It's a form of herpes yes (ever see the chicken herpes episode of southpark? ), but then again so are cold sores.

 

[Ausm]

Because herpes won't kill you so it is waaaaaaaay down on the list. Also the pharmaceutical companies make a killing on suppresent drugs for it

 

[mattpegher]

They have been working on a vaccine for HSV 1 and HSV 2 for greater than 20 years. Only recently have they been able to determine a vaccine which will produce the appropriate immune response to HSV 2. It has only been about 10 years since we developed the vaccine to chicken pox (Herpes zoster) also know as varicella. The problem so far has been that all component part vaccines have been unsuccessfull in producing an antibody response that was protective in anyway. Its not just producing antibodies that me need but stimulating the right antibody to prevent transmission.

Currently both HSV 1 and HSV 2 can be found in genital and oral mucosal outbreaks.

 

[Zolty]

because you let other touch you at night?

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
because there is no money in a cure ... there is money in a treatment.

A persistent myth with absolutely no viable evidence to support it.