One vaccine for two strains?
Strains of genital herpes in Africa are far more virulent than those in the United States, researchers at Harvard Medical School report, a striking insight into a common disease with important implications for preventing HIV transmission in a region reeling from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The researchers arrived at this finding by testing mouse model strains of the disease against vaccine candidates. All vaccines were far more efficacious in abating the U.S. strain. The researchers say identification of the properties of the African viruses would open the door to developing a more potent vaccine against an infection now rampant in sub-Saharan Africa. This is important, they say, because genital herpes patients are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection, as the open sores symptomatic of herpes contain a high concentration of immune cells that are targeted by HIV. The challenge lies in formulating either a single vaccine that protects against both types of strains of...