New Hope Against the Cold Sore Virus

Millions of Americans are afflicted by breakouts of unsightly cold sores, caused by the herpes simplex 1 virus, but new research is finally offering them the possibility of a cure.

evading the drugs that might otherwise wipe it out.

Buoyed by that finding, the same team is testing an experimental agent that can "reawaken" the virus, so it might be flushed out into the open and eradicated.

The hope is that, "we could use the drugs that we already have, plus an effective immune system, to cure a person from infection," explained lead researcher Jennifer Lin Umbach, a postdoctoral associate in Duke's department of molecular genetics and microbiology.

She and her colleagues published their findings July 2 in the online edition of Nature .

According to the American Social Health Association, up to 80 percent of American adults are infected with herpes simplex 1. Many, but not all, will suffer ...