The strains of the herpes virus are different in Africa and Europe. Researchers have discovered a common protein that opens up prospects for a new test, or even a vaccine.
The development of a universal diagnostic test for the herpes virus is expected to accelerate in the coming years, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities. The promising results of recent work, published this week in the Journal of Virology, would also allow the development of a vaccine. Two promising advances.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 400 million people around the world are infected with the virus Herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) which is transmitted mainly during sexual intercourse. An infection that increases the risk of getting AIDS. The other virus, HSV-1, which causes the “cold sore”, also causes genital herpes. Two viruses that can be transmitted to the child during childbirth.
To detect the herpes virus, the test currently used identifies a glycoprotein specific for the HSV-1 virus. And while it accurately detects the virus in the United States and Europe, it fails in Africa. A major flaw related to the initial development of the test. In fact, to develop it, researchers sequenced the genome of a virus found in European patients. However, the strains present in Africa do not share the same characteristics. The tests are therefore unnecessary on the African continent, a region of the world where the HSV-2 virus is more present.
New avenues for a vaccine
To reveal these differences, American researchers at Johns Hopkins University conducted two studies in parallel. The first aimed at the sequencing of the HSV-2 virus, and the second concerned the analysis of glycoproteins specific to HSV-2, potential targets of several candidate vaccines.
After genetically comparing more than 30 strains of the HSV-2 virus, the researchers noticed that the latter was genetically less diverse than HSV-1. An important discovery for the future development of vaccines.
Thanks to their second study, the researchers were able to determine how a universal test, detecting both viruses, could be developed. To do this, they compared 36 strains of HSV-2 virus to 26 strains of HSV-1 virus. “From this work, we will be able to develop a test detecting a glycoprotein common to both strains and present throughout the world, thus avoiding diagnostic errors”, explains Thomas Quinn, responsible for this work.
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