CSULB
herpes research aims to develop vaccine
By
Mari Shinkai
Daily Forty-Niner
What
is the disease, which affects more than
25 percent of women over the age of 12 in
the United States? The answer is neither
diabetes nor breast cancer, but herpes.
More
than 25 percent of the U.S. population has
genital herpes, possibly raising annual
associated costs from $1.8 billion to $2.7
billion, according to the Washington Times.
Cal
State Long Beach women ages 18 to 30 have
the opportunity to participate in a research
project to develop a vaccine against genital
herpes, which may be one of the first vaccines
available to prevent sexually transmitted
diseases.
"Herpes
is a lifelong infection that is caused by
a virus and can be spread to those you love
unknowingly," said Mike Carbuto, chief
physician at Student Health Services and
principal investigator for the campus research
project.
The
virus can travel the nerve pathways in a
particular part of the body and hide away
in the nerve roots for long periods of time,
and genital herpes can cause painful physical
lesions that often reoccur without warning.
The
study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness
of a vaccine to prevent genital herpes.
The
earlier studies show that approximately
73 percent of women who were free of herpes
simplex type 1 [HSV-1] and type 2 [HSV-2]
infection at the beginning of the trials
and who received the vaccine were protected
against genital herpes.
Nationally,
more than 20 sites are participating in
the study and the three Los Angeles sites,
Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Dominguez
Hills and UCLA, expect to enroll between
400 to 500 eligible women.
Currently,
a total of 28 women have been enrolled so
far for the three Los Angeles sites, said
Janet L. Baker, Herpevac clinical research
nurse at Student Health Services.
"We
are also looking for volunteers who want
to be part of the major national study in
the office here, particularly students from
health sciences major," Baker said.
"If
we can prove this vaccine to be beneficial,
we will be able to wipe out the genital
herpes issue within one or two generations.
That's pretty powerful," Baker said.
The
experimental herpes vaccine will not cause
HSV infection and has met safety requirements
needed for larger clinical trials.
For
more information about the herpes vaccine
trial, visit Web site: www.herpesvaccine.nih.gov.
For participation information, call (562)
985-4874 or visit the Student Health Services.
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