“The people who are symptomatic are really the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Christine Johnston, of the University of Washington in Seattle. “We are not having any impact on the epidemic by ignoring it.”

In Johnson’s study, researchers followed 498 people who had antibodies in their blood against genital herpes. This shows they had all been infected, even though about one in six never had any symptoms. Although it is unclear how much virus is needed to infect someone else, Johnston said, the amount of virus shed in the absence of sores was the same for people even without symptoms. Doctors recommend frank conversations with your partner about herpes.

Researchers discovered the plant could be used for the treatment of the  herpes virus. Led by Dr Festus M Tolo of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), the team from the University of Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya found the herb could provide an alternative remedy for herpes infections. 

“An extract preparation from the roots of Carissa edulis, a medicinal plant locally growing in Kenya, has exhibited remarkable anti-herpes virus activity for both wild type and drug resistant strains,” they reported in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

Also, professor Ruth Itzhaki from the University of Manchester explored the relationship of HSV1 to Alzheimer’s disease in her landmark article published in 2008. Entitled “Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Alzheimer’s disease: The Enemy Within,” Dr. Itzhaki revealed that HSV1 infects the brains of 90% of adults. If HSV1 is the cause Alzheimer’s, that would be a necessary characteristic when compared with the very high prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease.  She points out, HSV1 remains for life in the nervous system and may undergo periodic reactivation causing persistent brain inflammation. For example, HSV1 is the cause of recurrent fever blisters that occur when the virus gets activated in the brain. The most compelling evidence linking HSV1 to Alzheimer’s disease is her recent discovery that HSV1 DNA is actually located  within the beta amyloid plaque - the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Itzhaki has concluded, “Our present data suggest that this virus is a major cause of amyloid plaques and hence probably a significant etiological factor in Alzheimer’s disease. They point to the usage of antiviral agents to treat the disease and possibly of vaccination to prevent it.”

Beta amyloid accumulates in the Alzheimer’s brain as a defense to rid the brain of a variety of bacteria and viruses.

“Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs. Although these are early days, and we don’t yet know whether all viruses are cleared by this mechanism, we are excited that our discoveries may open multiple avenues for developing new antiviral drugs,” said Dr Leo James, leader of the study at the Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge.

The body fights infections by unleashing antibodies that stick to viruses as they circulate in the bloodstream. For many years, scientists working on immunity generally believed this made it harder for viruses to get inside healthy cells and spread the illness through the body.

But the new study has shown that for many viruses,  antibodies follow the invader inside the cell and co-ordinate an immune attack from within.

Immunologists once believed  that antibodies went to work only outside cells. Once a virus had invaded a cell, it was thought to be too late for the immune system to do anything.

Viruses are responsible for influenza, the common cold, smallpox, chickenpox, shingles, herpes, polio, rabies, Ebola, hanta fever, Aids and various forms of cancer.

The new study shows that once inside an infected cell, antibodies attract a protein called TRIM21. This turns on the cell’s equivalent of a waste disposal machine, a large cluster of proteins called a proteasome. The proteasome  latches on to TRIM21 and goes to work, dismantling the virus piece by piece, often before the virus has a chance to cause harm. The discovery, which is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could pave the way for a new generation of antiviral drugs that fight infections by supercharging the body’s own defences.

Future treatments based on this research are  expected only to work against a class of viruses that do not shed their protein coats when they invade healthy cells. Those that do would leave the attached antibodies outside the cells, and so not trigger the cell’s own immune attack.

Recently some new research emerged indicating that nature may provide an alternative solution. This remedy supposedly works faster than any of the conventional  mainstream treatments. I will explain further on why I use the word “supposedly”.

For some believers in natural cures, honey has long been regarded as  a natural wound healer and infection fighter. An unnamed researcher treated patients with Acyclovir for one herpes outbreak and honey for another.  Overall healing time with honey was 43 percent better than with Acyclovir for sores on the lips and 59 percent better for genital sores. This news sounds good, but I take this report  with a fair amount of skepticism.

This news report does not contain many details, such as the name of the researcher, the number of patients involved,  references to any peer reviews of the study or if this study had any official sanction, so for me, this puts the article I discovered on the Internet  in question. When you are suffering from herpes it is difficult sometimes remain a little skeptical when hope is presented, but there are real clinical studies of alternative herpes treatments on record and the hopeful investigator needs to sort herpes simplex fact from fiction.

I personally would experiment with honey on a herpes lesion if I were curious enough, but would never expect this “natural treatment” to prevent spreading the infection. A herpes sufferer must remain vigilant to never infect another person.

“We hope that determining the structure of this essential piece of the herpes virus cell-entry machinery will help us answer some of the many questions about how herpes virus initiates infection. Knowing the structures of cell-entry proteins will help us find the best strategy for interfering with this pervasive family of viruses,” said Tirumala K. Chowdary, a postdoctoral associate at Tufts.

For now, there is no cure for herpes viruses. Upon infection, the viruses remain in the body for life and can stay inactive for long periods of time. When active, these various  herpes viruses can cause cold sores, blindness, encephalitis or cancers.

The Pepsi company could help a  professor find a  herpes cure.

Professor David C. Bloom in the department of molecular genetics and microbiology, is hoping to win  a $50,000 grant to fund a treatment for herpes  in the Pepsi Refresh Project .

Bloom and his  team invented a new ribozyme therapy that could be used to treat herpes infections resistant to conventional drug treatments. Ribozyme, a molecule in genetic material, is intended to make the virus unable to infect and be transmitted to others.

About a million new cases of herpes occur annually. If Bloom succeeds, he would be able to stop the recurrence of herpes and fund human clinical trials for the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).

“Our project is at a critical phase right now,” Bloom said. “We have exciting data that shows our therapy can block the HSV infection in vivo, but we need additional data on the ability of this treatment to block recurrent disease.”

Starpharma is in beginning to consider clinical trials of its VivaGel product in women at risk of contracting genital herpes, the  Chief Executive Officer Jackie Fairley said in an interview in Singapore. The Melbourne-based company licensed its VivaGel- coated condoms in 2008 to SSL International Plc, maker of the world’s best-selling Durex brand.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that no cure exists for genital herpes, a condition that infects about one in six Americans and produces painful sores and increases HIV transmission. Other gels are being developed to prevent HIV infections, VivaGel is the only microbicide designed to stop herpes from spreading, Fairley said.

Today, if you have herpes, a natural product called Dynamiclear is very effective in controlling herpes outbreaks because it kills herpes viral particles when applied to  open herpes lesions. Fewer herpes particles remain and this means fewer and weaker outbreaks.

Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, says “Preventing STDs is a public health challenge that we, as a nation, cannot afford to ignore.”

The prevalence of HSV-2 has remained stable at around 17 percent of the U.S. population, the same as the last survey which was done from 1999 to 2004.

Even though there is no cure for the herpes simplex virus type 2 STD, it is possible to reduce the frequency and severity of the infection using nonprescription medication.  Here is a link to clinical trial studies on one of these very effective nonprescription viral antiseptics.

Golden Seal Eye Ointment can be useful in relieving and reducing symptoms of herpes in the eye and is often available through health care stores. Golden seal root is a rapidly effective, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, healing tonic that is often recommended for a variety of inflamed mucous membrane conditions. It is frequently used to support infected tissues including the eyes, mouth and throat.