View clinical trials related to HSV-2 Infection.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the new South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) sexuality and HIV education program that uses scripted lesson plans and supporting activities and will be implemented by Education Development Center (EDC). The primary outcomes are the incidence of HSV-2 or pregnancy among a cohort of learners in grade 8 and followed for two years in two provinces of South Africa.
The vast majority of new HIV infections occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 2 million people become infected with HIV/AIDS every year. Forty-five percent of these new HIV infections occur among people under 25 years old, and nearly all of them are due to unprotected sex. Ensuring the adoption of safer sexual behavior among youth is critical to keeping the new generations free of HIV. This research study aims to examine, through a large randomized controlled trial, the impact of two HIV prevention strategies among a youth population in Kenya: Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV (VCT), and condom distribution.
This is a single site, prospective, observational study that seeks to assess changes in mucosal immunity that occur as a result of HIV-1 exposure, HSV-2 infection, and/or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) usage to prevent HIV-1 acquisition. The study will collect mucosal and peripheral blood samples for a detailed analysis of longitudinal immune responses, while also obtaining samples for genetic characterization to understand how variants in CD101 and UBE2V1 may modulate host mucosal responses and HIV-1 infection risk.
Genital herpes has a high prevalence in industrialized as well as developing countries. Genital herpes causes genital ulcers, increases risk for acquiring HIV infection, and may be transmitted mother to child during birth with possible serious consequences. Medical treatments and condoms only partially reduce the risk for transmission from/ to sexual partners. Genital herpes transmission despite use of condoms is thought to be due to transfer via skin-to-skin contact in unprotected areas, and HSV-2 transmission may be enhanced by current shaving habits in the genital area leading to micro lesions (lacerations) of the skin. VIBLOK™ is a cream designed to impede the passage of viruses, such as HSV-2, across the skin. Bench and animal experiments indicate that it can block virus transmission such as HSV-2 over 80%. The objective of the SAFE trial is to assess the safety and performance of VIBLOK in adults with HSV-2 infection by comparing virus detection in the extra-genital area before and after application of the barrier cream.
Preterm delivery (PTD), together with low birthweight (LBW), is the leading cause of infant death and illness, affecting 500,000 births with annual medical costs of more than $26 billion in the U.S. each year. Identifying changeable risk factors to reduce PTD is considered a top research priority. Recent research has shown genital herpes infection (HSV) is associated with increased risks of PTD and LBW. More importantly, treating this infection, including infection with no symptoms, using readily available antiviral medications can be effective in removing the risk due to HSV. Thus, early identification and treatment of HSV in pregnant women could be an effective way to prevent PTD and LBW. Currently, many pregnant women with HSV infection, especially those with no symptoms, choose not to treat due to (a) a lack of demonstrated benefit of treatment and (b) general hesitance to use medications during pregnancy due to safety concerns for the fetus. Thus, emerging evidence of an increased risk of PTD/LBW associated with HSV infection, if untreated, and treatment effectiveness by anti-herpes medications has significantly changed current treatment paradigms among pregnant women. This evidence also provides new hope that effectively treating HSV infection among pregnant women, especially before the 3rd trimester, could lead to a new method to reduce PTD and LBW and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in these risks due to high rates of the infection in minority groups. To further examine the effectiveness of treating HSV in pregnant women to reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes, the investigators propose to conduct a prospective cohort study with a two-stage design combining the large pregnant women population (N=90,000) in Stage I identified through Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) electronic medical records (EMRs), with a Stage II sample to collect detailed information on additional factors that might muddle our understanding of this issue. This study will address the following: (1) Does treating HSV infection in pregnant women reduce the risk of PTD or LBW? (2) Does timing of the treatment during pregnancy influence treatment effectiveness? (3) Do other factors influence treatment effectiveness? and (4) Does HSV infection in pregnancy, if untreated, increase the risk of PTD and LBW, compared to no infection? Answers to these questions will be valuable to pregnant women and clinicians, and directly address their concerns when making treatment decisions