Herpes Dating Site Meet Positives Draws Attention To The Promising Results From New Herpes Vaccine Candidate

Chicago, Illinois -

Meet Positives, the largest dating site for herpes singles in the USA, is highlighting a recent news report about the efficacy of the herpes vaccine candidate from Rational Vaccines.

Rational Vaccines is a Massachusetts-based investigational-stage infectious disease company focused on combating all diseases resulting from herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) infections. The company is using its proprietary technology to develop viral immunotherapeutic and prophylactic vaccine candidates to reduce the spread of the herpes virus and improve the lives of those already infected. Its work is based on the pioneering research of the late Dr. William Halford, a microbiologist and professor at Southern Illinois University who dedicated over 25 years to the study of HSV-1 and HSV-2. The vaccine candidate from the company is named RVX201. The pilot study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Since the symptomatic herpetic disease is a condition of immuno-tolerance, Rational Vaccines posits that by introducing a live-attenuated mutant of the herpes virus, which can safely replicate and infect new cells at the site of injection, its candidate may elicit a wide enough immune response to act as an immune modulator. The company hopes that its immunotherapy could help patients better control the symptoms caused by the reactivation of their wild-type herpetic infection.

The pre-clinical (guinea pig) study showed that treatment with RVX201 led to a reduction in recurrent genital lesions compared to gD2-alum/MPL vaccine or placebo in vivo. Moreover, RVX201 generates a robust cellular immune response equivalent to that elicited by wild-type HSV-2 on day 7 post-infection. In an official press release on July 8, 2022, Dr. Konstantin G. Kousoulas, Ph.D., professor of virology and biotechnology, Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, and VP of scientific affairs at Rational Vaccines commented on the results of the study by writing, "This therapeutic study shows that RVX201 confers significant protection from HSV-2 reactivation in latently infected animals."

A spokesperson for Meet Positives commented on the achievement reported by Rational Vaccines by saying, “On its website, Rational Vaccines says that its goal is to revolutionize the treatment, prevention, and diagnosis of herpes and herpes-related diseases worldwide. It is a lofty goal that seems almost impossible to achieve. However, with their recent announcement, we must admit that they have proven all the skeptics wrong and exceeded all expectations. We would like to congratulate the team at Rational Vaccines for a landmark achievement that will undoubtedly move the needle in the fight against herpes. Rational Vaccines also mentions on its website that it envisions a world free of herpes. With the stride the company has taken in the development of the RVX201 vaccine candidate, we are hopeful that someday its vision will indeed come true.”

Herpes affects billions of people worldwide as it is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection. According to a WHO report from 2020, around half a billion people live with genital herpes while several billion have oral herpes. In the United States, 1 in 5 people lives with the disease. Though a majority of herpes infections are asymptomatic, those who experience symptoms are shunned and excluded from the dating pool. Meet Positives was created to help individuals living with herpes date with dignity and find their soul mate.

Meet Positives is the fastest growing STD community in the country and has been voted as the best #1 option for STD singles. The herpes dating app boasts thousands of STD singles with a gender breakdown of 51% men and 49% women. The company’s recommendation algorithm matches people who are living with the same conditions, by distance, and by their personal saved criteria. Registered members can also search for profiles of positive singles who also want to date, share their stories, and learn more about their conditions on the website’s discussion forums. Its responsive website adapts to any screen size and device type. The company has made available an Android app for users and an iPhone app is currently in development.