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Researchers are developing a vaccine that may prevent herpes developing in women who haven't been exposed to the virus. You might recall the old and rather sick joke: 'what's the difference between love and herpes? Herpes lasts forever. A new vaccine may make the joke out dated – but only for some. Herpes is really hard to immunize against because the virus hides inside nerve cells tucked away from the immune system until it decides to emerge and cause pain, blisters and ulcers - or even more scarily – with no symptoms - allowing spread to some unsuspecting partner.  A new vaccine against part of the herpes type 2 virus – that's the main one implicated in genital herpes, has found that it doesn't work in men at all and only in women who've had no exposure to either type 1 herpes – the cold sore virus or type 2. The reason for the sex difference may be the way a woman's immune system operates in her genital tract. It has less of a physical barrier to viruses than men's and may have a more responsive immune reaction. Better news on the female vaccine front is that a promising one seems to be proving itself against the wart virus which causes cervical cancer.
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