Immunization With Mutated HSV-2 May Prevent Transmission.(herpes simplex virus 2 mutation may prevent genital herpes transmission)

2001 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer -- Inoculating mice with a mutation of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) may prevent transmission of genital herpes.

The vaccine seems to work synergistically with immune components already in place, L.A. Morrison and colleagues report.

HSV-2 is a sexually transmitted disease that causes genital lesions and spreads to the nervous system. It is not curable and may cause regular eruption of genital lesions.

"We investigated the role of immune serum antibody generated by immunization with a replication-defective HSV-2 vaccine prototype strain in protection of the genital mucosa and the nervous system from HSV-2 infection," said L.A. Morrison et al.

When the research team immunized mice with this vaccine, they found it elicited systemic but not mucosal immune responses. They found that the mice were protected against subsequent genital challenge with HSV-2 ("Vaccine-induced serum immunoglobin contributes to protection from herpes simplex virus type 2 genital infection in the presence of immune T cells," Journal of Virology, 2001;75(3):1195-1204).

B-cell-deficient mice were able to control replication of the challenge virus in the genital mucosa after immunization with the HSV-2 vaccine, but only three days post-challenge, researchers found. The mice were not completely ...