by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
UNM Hospital is one of about 40 sites testing a vaccine for genital herpes.
The trial is the final phase before Food and Drug Administration
approval.
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In a previous trial, the vaccine was 75 percent effective for women, said Sarah Koster, coordinator of the study at UNM. The vaccine was not effective for men or for women who had oral herpes.
"Even though the herpes virus isn't normally fatal, it can still have a profound affect on peoples' lives," she said. "For some, HSV (herpes simplex virus) infection can be relatively mild and not very disruptive. However, for some, outbreaks can be quite painful and cause quite a bit of distress."
Herpes increases the chance of contracting HIV, she said.
In rare cases, it can be transmitted to babies during birth,
she said.
The vaccine works by training the immune system to recognize and prevent infection from herpes simplex virus type 2, which usually causes genital herpes, Koster said.
The vaccine cannot infect recipients and cannot cure those who are already affected, she said.
So far, 151 women have been vaccinated at UNM, Koster said. About 7,000 people have been vaccinated in the U.S. and Canada.
Koster said there might be some political backlash against the vaccine, similar to concerns about a vaccine for HPV that was approved by the FDA in 2006.
"Hopefully, all of that political debate introduced the idea of vaccinating people for this sort of thing," she said. "HSV is still considered to be a disease that only affects
unscrupulous people, but that's really not the case."
The HPV vaccine was an easier sell, because the virus is linked to cervical cancer, Koster said.
"The implications for this are very different from those of an AIDS vaccine or something like that," she said. "It's not something that you can point to it saving lives, but it's still really important."
About 25 percent of women in the U.S. get genital herpes, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, the
sponsors of the study.
Many people who are infected don't have any symptoms, but they can still transmit the virus to other people, Koster said.
"There are a lot of people out there who don't know they have it," she said. "It's something that gynecologists don't regularly test for. People can go their whole lives without knowing about it."
UNM will accept applications until August to participate in the program, she said.
It is open to women ages 18 to 30 who don't have a record of oral or genital herpes.
The study pays subjects $50 per visit for eight visits.
On three of the visits, the women are given shots of the vaccine or a vaccine for hepatitis A, which serves as a control for the study. The other visits are blood tests to see if they have contracted herpes.
"You don't have to be sexually active," Koster said. "This trial is supposed to replicate a real-world sort of environment. They get some money, and they can participate in something that will really benefit
young women."
How to participate
in the study
Contact Sarah Koster at
977-4449
Women between 18 and 30 who test negative for oral and genital herpes and are not pregnant are eligible for the trial.
The trial consists of eight visits over 20 months.
The vaccine cannot infect the recipient with herpes.
Each visit pays $50.
Source: Sarah Koster
