How Dormant Herpes Springs Back To Life

Researchers may have finally revealed the way that herpes is able to go into and come out of hiding.A herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection lasts for life

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th November, 2019) Researchers may have finally revealed the way that herpes is able to go into and come out of hiding.A herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection lasts for life.

No vaccination can prevent it, and no treatment can fully eradicate it.The problem for doctors is that, most of the time, herpes lies dormant in nerve cells and becomes treatable only during unpredictable periods of activity.Now, researchers many from Cornell University's Baker Institute for Animal Health, in Ithaca, NY may have discovered what allows the genes in HSV to sometimes turn on.The researchers have found that herpes' viral DNA sometimes escapes suppressive protein wrappings in nerve cells and becomes reactivated.Luis M.

Schang, Ph.D., the senior author of the summary of these findings, explains that herpes' on-again-off-again nature is "why antivirals cannot cure the infection and why, so far, it's been impossible to develop a vaccine." He points out that "Latency and reactivation are a major focus for herpes virus research.

"About herpesThe World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that 3.7 billionTrusted Source people under the age of 50 have an HSV-1 infection, which usually causes oral herpes.

They also report that 417 million people aged 15-49 have an HSV-2 infection, which usually causes genital herpes.People who have herpes may not realize it, since a herpes infection is asymptomatic when it is dormant, or latent.

When an infection is active, either form is contagious.HSV-1 is transmitted primarily through oral-to-oral or oral-to-genital contact, as well as through contact with the skin around the mouth, sores, or saliva of a person with an active infection.

HSV-2 is spread through genital-to-genital contact.Turning herpes onPrevious research has investigated the mechanisms that allow individual herpes genes to switch on and off.Schang's team has discovered, however, that the issue may not involve individual herpes genes but the entire herpes genome becoming activated, allowing individual genes to be expressed.

The paper reveals how this may occur.