04 July 2008 08:47
They are raw and ugly. Uninvited. They appear without notice and pretty much ruin any event you may have been eager to attend.
They are the dreaded cold sore.
The good news is, cold sores may very well become a thing of the past thanks to a team of microbiologists at Duke University. The researchers have been hard at work trying to figure out how to switch the virus from latency to its active stage.
The lead author of the project, Dr Bryan Cullen, says this plays a vital role in the research process "because unless you activate the virus, you can't kill it."
The theory is that by activating the virus, then preventing it from retuning, it can be completely eradicated. Cullen's research suggests that a drug could be developed to block the virus permanently.
It was also found that this new research may very well be applied to other latent viruses like herpes or the chicken pox.
Apparently, by the age of 40, almost 90% of the adult population will have been exposed to the herpes simplex virus which causes cold sores.
“There are a lot of people who'd be thrilled never to have a cold sore again," said Dr Cullen.
Source: time.com