Genital Herpes

This incurable viral infection can have painful symptoms and may triple the risk for HIV.

Snapshot

  • Most cases are caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), an extremely infectious virus affecting 500 million people worldwide.
  • Genital herpes may cause recurrent, painful sores and triple the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV.
  • People with HIV may experience more severe HSV-2 symptoms and complications.

Key Challenges

  • There’s no vaccine against genital herpes.
  • Antiviral medications can reduce symptoms, but here is no cure for genital herpes.

Genital Herpes Advocacy Needs

  • Are vaccines available to prevent genital herpes? No, but several clinical trials are being conducted to develop a genital herpes vaccine. 
  • Are tests available to detect genital herpes? Yes, tests are available but are often ineffective at detecting genital herpes. 
  • How is genital herpes detected? Swab of a lesion or sore can be used to detect genital herpes. 
  • Can genital herpes be treated? Antiviral medications are available to prevent and shorten outbreaks but there is no cure for genital herpes.

Vaccines

Although scientists believe development of a vaccine to prevent genital herpes is feasible, candidates to date have not shown high efficacy. In late 2022, BioNTech launched a Phase 1 trial of a new mRNA vaccine candidate called BNT163. Results of this study are expected in 2025.

Other researchers, including at Moderna and GSK, are working to develop therapeutic vaccines to treat HSV infections. These vaccines could streamline treatment for recurrent infections (which often requires daily antiviral medication), making it easier to manage symptoms and prevent transmission of HSV-2.

In 2023, NIH awarded Rational Vaccines $2.8 million dollars to advance work on both therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines, as well as a new diagnostic test. Before this grant, in 2022, just over $3.5 million was being invested in genital herpes vaccine development.

pipeline graphic of where we are in a search for a vaccine

Advocacy Needs

  • More funding to advance R&D for both preventive and therapeutic genital herpes vaccines is needed. In 2022, just $3.5 million was invested in this work globally. 

Diagnostics

Blood tests to screen for asymptomatic HSV-2 infections exist, but are used infrequently due to high rates of false positivity. Symptomatic infections are usually diagnosed by sending a swab of an active genital herpes lesion or sore to the laboratory for either cell culture or molecular testing—options that may be unavailable in many low-resource settings. At least one point of care test has been developed, but more, more affordable point of care options are essential to better diagnose HSV infection, including infections without obvious symptoms, and control the spread of genital herpes.

Advocacy Needs

  • More accessible point-of-care tests are needed, as well as better screening tools to identify asymptomatic infections.

Treatment

Antiviral medications, including acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir, can treat genital herpes symptoms and reduce the risk of transmitting HSV-2. However, these medicines do not cure the infection, and their benefits persist only while they are being taken regularly.

Advocacy Needs

  • Continued and increased investment in therapeutic vaccines and a cure is essential to reduce the need for lifelong treatment.