The virus that causes cold sores is named herpes simplex virus Type 1. Herpes simplex virus Type 2 causes genital herpes. These viruses attack skin or mucous membrane cells where they become parasitic upon the normal processes in the cells. The infestation is difficult to attack with antiviral drugs because the drugs also attack the host cells. Genital herpes is transmitted sexually and is now considered to have reached epidemic status in the United States with 300,000 new cases being reported each year.
Newborn babies can contract the disease by passage through the birth canal of an infected mother.
Death can result if the virus reaches a baby's brain. So far, there is no known cure for genital herpes virus. Once a person is infected, the condition is lifelong. One encouraging development is that two Alaskan researchers, Natasha I. Calvin and Robert J. Ellis, of Juneau, have discovered that two species of seaweed relieve the symptoms of herpes virus. Dried and powdered, these red algae seaweeds reduce blistering when placed on the affected skin.