When will we have a herpes simplex vaccine?

I have been contracting HSV-2 for less than a year [Herpes Simplex Virus 2, che causa il cosiddetto Herpes genitale, nda]. I am 33 years old, the recurrences have become more frequent (almost every two months), and they have a very negative impact on my psycho-physical well-being and on my private life. I’ve read about mRNA vaccines being studied: what time frame can we expect for a cure?

Research has been underway for several years, including in Italy, to identify vaccines that can be tested on humans. Moderna recently announced that it is developing new mRNA vaccines and one of these (mRNA-1608) is a candidate against the Herpes simplex virus.

Naturally these are announcements that instill great expectation in the scientific community and in patients, but it is necessary to consider that the development process of these vaccines will not be very fast. It takes years to complete the various phases (I, II and III) of testing a new vaccine and it is not said that the molecule in question will prove to be safe and effective in all phases of experimentation. We are waiting but it is likely that we will not have vaccines for the pathology from which he suffers for a short time.

In this case it is advisable to contact your doctor or a trusted infectious disease specialist to identify those mechanisms that can facilitate the onset of recurrences, and try to remedy them.

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*Marco Falcone is SIMIT Secretary, infectious disease specialist at the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Pisan Hospital, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa