In terms of research, a program headed by Dr. William Halford at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine is looking into a new approach. The idea is to remove the virus’ ability to penetrate the body’s defenses.

Dr. Halford is developing a vaccine that uses an altered ICP0 that cannot penetrate the body’s interferon defense. It doesn’t sicken a healthy person, but does cause the production of antibodies to fight against a “real” HSV-2 infection. This is generally how a vaccine works: use a weakened version of a real disease to stimulate antibody production against the real thing.

The key is that the vaccine must truly be safe and not cause the disease it is trying to prevent. ICP0 vaccine appears to be 100 times more effective than Herpevac and equally safe. The effectiveness of ICP0 vaccine rests on the fact that, except for the altered ICP0 protein, the vaccine HSV-2 virus is the same as the real one, and causes the production of the same antibodies. The HSV-2 codes for 80 proteins and each one triggers an antibody response. Since 79 of the proteins in the vaccine are unchanged, the body naturally builds up antibodies to real viral proteins. This creates a very effective vaccine, at least in theory. Only clinical trials will establish whether ICP0 vaccine is safe and effective. These have not yet started, however. For more information, click on this link.