Developments in genital herpes: progress in prevention and treatment

Genital herpes is a major worldwide public health problem with more than four billion people infected with either herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2). To reduce HSV infections, which greatly impact people of all ages, a thorough understanding of the epidemiology, viral life cycle and correlates of immune protection are essential. This review highlights advances in these areas including new research in vaccine development and potential future strategies for a cure.

Historically, HSV-2 was the predominant cause of genital infection, but HSV-1 now accounts for more than half of all new infections worldwide. HSV-1 is less likely than HSV-2 to cause clinical recurrences; however, both can be transmitted perinatally, particularly during primary infection. Neonatal infection may result in disseminated and/or neurologic disease with significant morbidity despite antiviral therapy. Resistance to current antivirals may emerge particularly among immunocompromised patients, highlighting the need for new approaches for treatment and prevention. Prior vaccine trial failures and new research indicate that neutralizing antibodies, long considered the correlate for protection, are not sufficient, and that polyfunctional antibodies with cytolytic activity as well as cellular immune responses will be needed for effective prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.

HSV infections are usually asymptomatic but the viruses uniformly establish latency with periodic reactivation and the potential for long-term neurologic sequelae. Molecular diagnostics, which has replaced viral culture, has demonstrated that reactivation is more common than previously appreciated. Thus, new approaches to treatment and prevention and ultimately cure are needed.