14 DAY TRIAL // The herpes is nasty, widespread and has no cure at the moment.
But with all the damage they induce, researchers have found a positive side in these viruses: they can boost the body's resistance against the bubonic plague and other severe bacterial infections, at least in mice. "Research into whether a similar mechanism applies to humans and other mammalian hosts should be conducted," said viral immunologist Skip Virgin at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "There may be symbiotic advantages to chronic infections with these viruses. These new results do not mean people should go out and get infected with herpes," Skip Virgin underlined.
25 % of the women and 20 % of the men have genital herpes. This class of viruses compass not just the herpes simplex viruses, inducing cold sores and genital herpes, but also other viral diseases, like chickenpox and "mono" (glandular fever). "After the initial period of infection, these viruses enter a dormant state known as latency. Many lurk for the lifetime of their hosts "as permanent passengers" without causing overt symptoms," said Virgin.
Virgin's team employed viruses with DNA extremely close to the mono's. These pathogens induce fatigue and ruffled fur in mice, but in experiments, the employed doses were too low to cause these symptoms. The latent infections with these viral strains were found to defend the mice from bacterial infections, like Yersinia pestis (bubonic plague) and Listeria monocytogenes (which causes a severe type of food poisoning).
The viruses seems to stimulate the immune system, which synthesizes high levels of the interferon gamma protein "that in effect puts some immune system soldiers on yellow alert, causing them to patrol for invaders with their eyes wide open and defense weapons ready," Virgin said. This way, the rapid bacterial growth was stopped and the infections were less likely to be deadly, and now researchers want to see if the herpes viruses are a defence against other vital infections, too.
But the herpes viruses come with some severe side effects, such as deafness, blindness, encephalitis and cancer. Moreover, investigating the benefits of these viruses on human health could prove difficult "since nearly all humans are infected with these viruses at a young age, so it will be hard to find people without them for comparison", Skip Virgin added.