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Growth, Purification, and Titration of Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus
Published on: May 13, 2021
The challenge of developing a herpes simplex virus 2 vaccine
Lesia K Dropulic1, Jeffrey I Cohen
1Medical Virology Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. dropulicl@niaid.nih.gov
Expert Review of Vaccines
|December 21, 2012
Summary
Developing an effective herpes vaccine is crucial due to widespread HSV infections. Current research focuses on novel vaccines to elicit robust immune responses against both HSV-1 and HSV-2 for preventing genital herpes.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Immunology
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infections, particularly genital herpes, are a global health concern.
- Existing prophylactic HSV vaccines have shown limited success in human clinical trials.
- There is a growing need for vaccines against both HSV-1 and HSV-2 due to rising genital HSV-1 cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current landscape of HSV vaccine development.
- To highlight the immunological requirements for effective prophylactic and therapeutic herpes vaccines.
- To discuss promising novel vaccine strategies.
Main Methods:
- Review of preclinical and clinical studies on HSV vaccines.
- Analysis of immune responses (antibody and T-cell) elicited by different vaccine platforms.
- Evaluation of vaccine efficacy in animal models and human trials.
Main Results:
- Prophylactic vaccines primarily aim for antibody responses, requiring high genital tract antibody levels.
- Therapeutic vaccines necessitate potent T-cell responses at the infection site.
- Novel vaccine candidates, including replication-defective or attenuated viruses, show promise in preclinical studies by eliciting humoral and cellular immunity.
Conclusions:
- Effective HSV vaccines must induce both humoral and cellular immunity.
- Novel vaccine platforms demonstrate potential for future clinical success.
- A successful vaccine could significantly impact the global burden of genital herpes.
