Is this a cure for cold sores?
by ROGER DOBSON, Daily MailScientists believe they have finally found a permanent cure for cold sores. They say the treatment, a lotion, will be the first to kill the virus that causes the sores and infects as many as nine out of ten people in Britain at some time during their lives.
Existing treatments can minimise or even prevent an outbreak, but they do not kill the virus which lies dormant when it is not activated.
But the new lotion, which was developed as a by-product of biological warfare technology, actually kills the virus by exploding it from the inside.
Cold sores, members of the herpes family of viruses, are an unpleasant fact of life for millions of people in the UK, with the latest research estimating that between 25pc and 45pc of adults have several attacks a year.
Once someone is infected with the cold sore virus, it never goes away, but travels down the nerves at the site of the infection, where it remains dormant between attacks.
These can be triggered by a variety of factors, including stress, anxiety, depression, physical illness, a depressed immune system or even sunbathing.
They can often emerge when they are least wanted, such as before exams or an important job interview, and can form unsightly scabs.
The first sign of an attack is a tingling sensation that is caused by the virus as it starts to travel back down a nerve towards the site where the lesion will form.
The most popular treatment is with creams containing the anti-viral drug aciclovir, which are applied to the affected area and minimise the effects of the virus, but do not kill it.
The lotion that researchers have developed not only halts the attack, but kills the virus. It is made up of nano-particles of detergent and solvents in emulsion.
These particles are so small that they penetrate the outer coating of the virus and destroy its effectiveness.
Professor James Baker, professor of medicine at the University of Michigan and director of the Center for Biologic Nanotechnology, is leading the development of the material.
He and his colleagues came up with the idea while working on the development of material to protect soldiers from biological warfare weapons.
'The potential is tremendous. It is applied to the site of the cold sore and the particles in the emulsion enter and destabilise the virus, causing it to explode and die,' he says.
This is at such a small, cellular level that it would go unnoticed by the patient and would have no ill-effects.
'We were looking at this material for other purposes when we discovered that it had an anti-microbial activity.
'The secret is that these nano-particles are so tiny they get inside the virus to cause the disruption.' In laboratory, animal and pre-clinical tests, the emulsion was applied twice a day for two days to kill the virus. Human trials are expected to start within the next few months.
The lotion will also work for genital herpes, a sexually transmitted disease, and Professor Baker says it is being looked at as a potential treat-ment for a range of other viruses, including HIV, Ebola and smallpox.
'It seems to work against a broad range of viruses. Essentially, it has had an effect on every virus that we have tried it on so far,' he says. Researchers have also been working on a twice-a-day pill to prevent the cold sore from growing by attacking the DNA of the virus.
The aim is to meet the virus head-on as it emerges into the lip or skin tissue and to stop it multiplying and forming bumps or blisters.
The drug gets into the DNA of the virus and turns off its ability to replicate, stopping it from reproducing itself and expanding.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-37314/Is-cure-cold-sores.html
