Will there be a cure or vaccine for herpes soon?

I have heard that there will be a cure or vaccine for herpes on the market in 2009 or 2010. Will this ever be a reality?

It looks unlikely that there will be a vaccine on the market anytime soon. A number of HSV-II (genital herpes) vaccines have been developed and tested recently. The most effective of these prevented HSV-II sores in 72 percent of women who were negative for both oral and genital herpes, but had no effect on men and did not help women who were already infected with either strain of herpes. Many of the other trials were almost completely ineffective.

Viruses by themselves aren’t “alive”, and must use the cells of another organism to reproduce and spread. Because of this, drugs cannot be developed to kill viruses the same way drugs can be used to kill invading bacteria. Antiviral drugs are used to slow a virus from spreading, but cannot eliminate it. The only real way to “cure” a virus is to prevent infection in the first place with a vaccine, so until a vaccine is developed, there cannot be a cure. There are a number of antivirals which can effectively be used to reduce the frequency of outbreaks in severe cases.

Recommendations: Two guides to STDs.