Anti Shingles Agent Discovered

A recurrence of childhood chickenpox as shingles is generally unpleasant.   Thus anything that can ameliorate theassociated unpleasantness is welcome. This is apparently the first viable protocol that really addresses theproblem.

There are a number of poorlyunderstood viral agents out there that appear good at hiding out and may evenhave generally avoided detection.  Since thisproblem is well understood it may also provide a model to challenge otheragents we may not even have detected.

Certainly the war on HIV hashugely advanced the whole field of viral ecology.

Anti-shingles agent discovered

Published: April 26, 2011 at 1:55 AM

ATHENS, Ga., April 26 (UPI) -- U.S.researchers say they discovered a compound that may be more effective thanexisting agents in treating the very painful blisters involved with shingles.

People age 60 and older who have had chicken pox as children -- causedby the varicella-zoster virus, which can hide in the nerves -- can getshingles, a blistering rash on one side of the body.

Shingles affects as many as 30 percent of mostly elderly Americansand has no specific treatment.

Medicinal chemist Chung (David) Chu of the University of Georgia,one of the inventors of L-BHDA says, it is a novel and effective anti-shinglesagent.

"We need new options for medications with increased potency andspecificity that can treat VZV, including strains that may be resistant toexisting drugs," Chu says in a statement.

Chu and co-inventor Yung-Chi (Tommy) Cheng of Yale Universitysay although there are generic anti-viral drugs to reduce the duration and painof shingles, and a variety of pain medications and topical creams to relievelong-term pain, they are only moderately effective.

"L-BHDA has the potential to be more effective than existingagents," Chu says.

The compound has been tested in the laboratory and in mice models, theresearchers say.

A vaccine to prevent shingles can cut the likelihood of a shinglesattack in half, but only a small percentage of older people receive the shot,the researchers say.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/04/26/Anti-shingles-agent-discovered/UPI-16081303797320/#ixzz1LDgEYFEq