Is it possible to be rid of (STD) diseases/viruses like Gonorrhea and Herpes?

It's almost impossible to rid of any disease 100%. There are still cases of Small Pox, Yersinia pestis (Bubonic Plague), Ebola, and other things that many people would have thought were gone completely.

 

Herpes is insidious, and pretty much impossible to get rid of once you have it. Even if we got rid of it, it could just re-evolve from cold sores again.

 

Good question.

There are trials underway for vaccines for gonorrhea and syphilis. Fortunately, both of these bacteria do not have capsules that hide them from the immune system, so researchers were able to find parts of outer membranes of the bacteria that can be used to immunize against infection.

Also look for expansion of the HPV immunizations. Gardisil- the HPV immunzation currently on the market targets only a few of the HPV types and is specific to the types that cause cervical cancer, so it is only recommended for young girls before they become sexually active. The latest research is finding connections between certain HPV strains and oral and anal cancers. Eventually, we will see an HPV immunization that is recommended for men.

On the second part of your question- it's another interesting twist. The thought originally was that immunizations would prevent disease. What actually happens is that an immunzation changes the way the immune system responds so that the infection is mild and the chance that other people will be infected is reduced.

What some of the HIV vaccine trials have shown is that immunzation against HIV reduces the effects of the person who has the infection however they are still infectious. In other words, the HIV vaccines have failed because of the small number of people where it prevents HIV from taking hold and because even though they don't develop AIDS, they can still infect other people.

 

so far as i knew, i thought gonorrhoea was curable?

Herpes on the other hand i know is an infection for life (except in some very rare cases... and even then, it's never been absolutely proven to have been eradicated from the body)

HIV has been cured once ever, as a result of a bone marrow transplant for a patient who was inflicted by both leukaemia and HIV. The very generous (the process of bone marrow donation is extremely painful) donor of the bone marrow happened to be one of the ~10% (estimate) of people who happen to be immune to the effects of the HIV virus, and hence the blood cells which became dominant in the bone marrow recipient's blood became impervious to it. After a year, there was no sign of the HIV virus being present in his blood stream. Incidentally, the leukaemia was also very effectively treated by the same transfusion and he went into remission.

This person is undoubtedly one of the luckiest people ever to live, and remains the first and as of yet only person to have been (apparently) cleared of HIV infection.

This is however as yet inconclusive... it may be that in weeks/months/years to come the virus will reassert itself. However at this point it seems as though he's pretty much won the lottery nine trillion times over.

 

Herpes lives in the myelin sheathes of nerves cells, which I believe don't get hit by the immune system. In this way, it avoids being attacked by your body and causes incredibly painful sores when inflamed. Though, it is still a virus, so I suppose it could be vaccinated against eventually.

The abzyme treatment for HIV shows promise, because instead of helping your system make antibodies or whatever, it neutralizes the proteins that allow the HIV to enter your T-cells in the first place. This element of the HIV virus is immutable, because it is the weapon it needs to survive. Without it, it is just random RNA in a protein bubble.

Gonorrhea is bacterial, so I am pretty sure some heavy doses of antibiotics usually does it.

 

The question of whether we develop immunizations for diseases is independent of whether treatment is available or cureable. For example, diphtheria is curable with antibiotics but we still immunize against it.

There's three problems with gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae):

1. Occult infection - gonorrhea is more symptomatic in men than in women. Men have a very characteristic discharge and pain urinating. With women, it may progress to pelvic inflammatory disease before the woman is diagnosed. Gonorrhea is one of the leading causes of sterilty in women (salpingitis).
2. Reinfection - it is often of little value to treat one person in a relationship without treating their partner. The partner can be the source of reinfection.
3. Antimcrobial resistance - this is a big problem with gonorrhea. For many years, the standard treatment for gonorrhea was a large dose of penicillin. Gonorrhea has been increasingly resistant to penicillin. The latest treatments- antibiotics in the same class as Cipro - were effective for many years but about 40% of the gonorrhea in Asia is now resistant to the Cipro-category drugs. We're losing the battle on antibiotic resistance with gonorrhea.

Our hope is that we can develop immunizations so that the person's immune system can quickly dispose of gonorrhea so that it doesn't become a chronic infection with all of the complications that we're seeing with gonorrhea.

 

id actually be worried if somthign could kille a disease off 100% as it has teh potential to create a super virus or be one itself....


isolated treatment i find is the continued better option.

 

Gotcha, i misunderstood the question

 

This is true. Bacteria and virus were present on earth long before human being. There are harmful and helpful bacteria. They are everywhere even in our bodies. The war against germs are pointless. Germ theory of disease has failed. Its father, Louis Pasteur, admitted before his death, said to his friend "Bernard was right, the germ is nothing, the milieu is everything" (milieu = environment). As long as the environment within your body is pure, the cells are vibrant and healthy, you are free from diseases.

I do not believe in vaccination. All of its constituents are foreign materials and toxins. Even though scientists (or "drug companies") claim that they come in such a minute a mount that they have no effect on the body, everyone reacts differently. We all knows that the best way not to be poisoned is not introducing them at all into our body.

 

I should have caught this earlier but the last known case of smallpox was in 1978. It resulted from a lab accident. The last transmitted case of smallpox was in 1977. There hasn't been a case of smallpox in over 30 years. Since these strains of the variola virus are only carried by humans, it is believed that the disease has been completely eradicated.

 

....And the final verdict before having sexual relations with a partner is... GET TESTED before some loving.