Herpes Vaccine Disappoints in Large Clinical Trial
Published at
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(CHAPEL HILL, N.C.) — The search for a vaccine against genital herpes has hit a snag, researchers say.
Despite earlier success, new results from a larger clinical trial, reported in the Jan. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the experimental herpes vaccine provided only moderate protection against herpes type 1, which causes cold sores and occasional genital herpes cases. The vaccine was not effective at all for the most common cause for genital herpes (type 2).
“We’re really disappointed by the results,” study co-author Dr. Peter Leone of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said, according to MedPage Today.
Leone said, MedPage reports, that since the virus types 1 and 2 are too difficult to tell apart, the vaccine’s value is rendered inadequate.
Going forward, Dr. Leone said “a different type of vaccine approach” will be necessary to fight both viruses.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio