IU Researchers Test Vaccine, Attitudes Toward Herpes Prevention
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana University School of Medicine infectious disease
physicians are testing a genital herpes vaccine to see if it can prevent
the virus from infecting women.
One out of every five Americans has genital herpes. That percent represents
45 million people nationwide and is not limited only to adults. According
to the Centers for Disease Control, the sexually transmitted disease statistic
includes people ages 12 and older. Since the late 1970s, the number of
Americans with genital herpes infection has increased 30 percent.
Although herpes is not life threatening to adults, it can be to infants
born to women infected during pregnancy. For adults, the virus is annoying
and uncomfortable. Although condoms may provide some protection, currently
genital herpes is only preventable through abstinence. What researchers
are seeking is a way to protect sexually active individuals against the
herpes virus.
There are two herpes viruses that infect people; herpes simplex 1, which
causes fever blisters or cold sores, and herpes simplex 2, which causes
genital herpes.
The clinical trial is jointly sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health and GlaxoSmithKline. It is being conducted at 20 medical centers
nationwide. More than 7,500 women without herpes simplex virus (HSV) will
be enrolled. Each will be randomly assigned to receive either the herpes
vaccine or an investigational hepatitis A vaccine.
Participants will receive three doses of one of the vaccines within a
six-month period and will be followed for 20 months with periodic clinical
visits and telephone contact. Men are not included in the study because
an earlier trial showed positive results in reducing infection in women
but not in men.
At the IU School of Medicine, Kenneth Fife, M.D., Ph.D., who is the principal
investigator on the study, wants to enroll 500 women between the ages
of 18 and 30 years. The difficulty is finding women who have not been
infected with either type of herpes virus.
"The vaccine will not cure individuals already infected but could
have a huge effect on protecting women and their partners from this sexually
transmitted disease," said Dr. Fife. "This trial is for individuals
who have not contracted either form of herpes, which makes the screening
process more difficult since many people are exposed to herpes through
cold sores at an early age."
If found to be protective, the vaccine could be administered to women
before they become sexually active and prevent them from contracting the
disease.
Researchers say that developing an effective vaccine is only half the
battle. Will parents be accepting of the idea of vaccinating their children
at pre-adolescence or early adolescence before they become sexually active?
Greg Zimet, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and clinical psychology, is
conducting a behavioral study addressing what could be a contentious issue.
However, Dr. Zimet said the preliminary results have been a bit unexpected.
"Parents have exhibited an overwhelming willingness to have their
children vaccinated," he said. "There has been no difference
in attitudes about vaccinations for non-sexually transmitted infections
and those for STD protection."
Dr. Zimet and colleagues have enrolled 300 adolescent-parent pairs at
adolescent and pediatric offices in Indianapolis and Bloomington. The
children in the study were between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Participants
filled out a computerized questionnaire asking a variety of questions
to assess attitudes toward STD vaccines if they were available for herpes,
gonorrhea and HIV-AIDS.
The most common attitude for acceptance of a vaccine was parental worry
about their child's vulnerability to STDs. Parents less accepting of the
idea tended to be concerned about STD vaccination possibly leading their
child to engage in more unsafe sexual behaviors.
The first paper on the behavioral research will be published in the next
few months in the journal Social Science and Medicine.
For additional information on Dr. Fife's clinical trial or to enroll,
call
317-278-2945.
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Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu
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