BBC South East reports that “Raffy Holliday, from Deal in Kent, tested positive for the HHV6 strain in hospital, and he died in March,” but this was not herpes simplex: parents don’t need to be worried about this. The reporters don’t explain that HHV-6 – commonly called roseola – is not ‘herpes’ in the usual sense. When anyone says ‘herpes’ people think of genital herpes. The reporters didn’t check to find that there are 9 different conditions caused by 9 different herpes viruses. Other well-known herpes viruses are chickenpox (HHV-3) and glandular fever (HHV-4). Infections with human her ..read more

“Mothers should not be alarmed by these tragic rare cases – a repeat is almost impossible”, says Herpes Viruses Association For a woman to be infected with herpes simplex during a Caesarean-section is one of the rarest possible medical accidents. For it to happen twice in the same geographical area required a unique set of circumstances that are unlikely to be repeated. Lessons have been learned and treatment guidelines will be updated to prevent another similar tragedy. The Herpes Viruses Association was shocked to hear that two women died from internal herpes simplex infections following dis ..read more

Since 2020, everyone can have free prescriptions for treatments for all STIs and HIV. Make sure any antiviral prescription from a GP is endorsed with ‘FS.’ There is no need for the GP to write anything else on it. From the prescribing team in the Dept. of Health and Social Care: This is to “enable prescribers to endorse the FP10 prescription form to show the pharmacist that the item(s) prescribed are for free-of-charge treatment for a sexually transmitted infection (STI)… Because we understand that treatment for STIs is increasingly being provided by prescriptions from GPs and we want to make ..read more

Dr Ruth Itzhaki Dr Ruth Itzhaki has been working on a possible link between cold sores and the development of Alzheimer’s for a long time. Now she is suggesting it is time to investigate the use of antivirals in mid-life, with the view of preventing Alzheimer’s later on. She says “We discovered in 1991 that in many elderly people HSV1 is also present in the brain. And in 1997 we showed that it confers a strong risk of Alzheimer’s disease when present in the brain of people who have a specific gene known as Apoe-e4.” She adds ”The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease is 1 ..read more

The question “does the shingles vaccine help with herpes simplex” is perhaps relevant. Herpes zoster is the medical name for shingles, or it can be called humanherpes virus ‘type 3’. It is enough like herpes simplex, that it is treated with aciclovir or other antiviral drug. If you do think you may have shingles, it is important to get the drug for shingles very quickly, within 3 days. Only prompt treatment will help control the duration of symptoms. Shingles is the name for a recurrence of chickenpox (herpes varicella). Following infection, chickenpox virus remains in the body, hiding in neur ..read more

Herpes helpliners were invited to talk to the doctors at the annual conference of the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV in Sheffield in 2022. Our topic was “How to help your patients: you need to de-Google them.” The talk was presented as a chat between two helpliners. You can see the text we prepared to train ourselves – and the slides we used at the same time on the attached page. Naturally, on the day, we didn’t read from this script. But because we had rehearsed several times, the talk followed this flow… Helpliners talk to doctors about herpes at their conference in 2022. The p ..read more

Rational Vaccines has started their trial with a survey in UK. Anyone following the research that is being done into herpes simplex will be glad hear this. After this stage, they will move onto the actual injection stage… We know that the possibility of a vaccine has long been hoped for. The research will find out, firstly, can the vaccine treat people having innumerable recurrences and, secondly, prevent uninfected people from being able to catch herpes simplex . This is a live attenuated virus vaccine – like the ones used to prevent chickenpox and shingles. The Rational Vaccine company has s ..read more

A story in the Daily Express on 2nd August 2022 described how a facial infection can reactivate in the eye. This ocular herpes needs to be treated. “Ocular herpes usually occurs when a previous infection with the virus reactivates and spreads to the eye. Most people will catch the herpes simplex virus as children, but will not notice it as there are often no symptoms.” “Common symptoms of herpes simplex keratitis include redness around the front of the eye, pain, aching or a gritty feeling as well as sensitivity to bright light.” Both of these quotes are true. And the warning that if ..read more

“It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Mark Twain You can download a PDF of this article. An article by Nigel Scott For anyone in the twenty first century it is hard to believe that there was a time when ‘herpes’ was not a stigmatised and feared condition. But this is true. Less than forty years ago genital herpes was largely ignored. Newly diagnosed patients were not made to feel that a common skin condition had just ended their chance of having future relationships.  Doctors knew that they were simply dealing with the manifestation of the commo ..read more

Last year, our trial volunteers took part in a scientifically run placebo-controlled, double-blind trial to see if the ‘EBDT powders’ from Vimuneco would improve their immune response so that they stopped getting outbreaks. The trial showed it had a minor effect, but the powders were very hard to use: they had to be absorbed under the tongue. New trial The company has reformulated the treatment as a liquid and there are still some places still available on the trial, so you can take part. You won’t know if you are using the placebo or the ‘real thing’ during the trial. But you won’t miss out a ..read more