Anti-Herpesvirus Drugs and Vaccines

Since the advent of the first drugs to treat herpesvirus infections, the antimicrobial community has been looking for better and more specific drugs and vaccines to both prevent and suppress these infections. The greatest active pharmaceutical ingredient that has been discovered since then is acyclovir and its derivatives, and the greatest vaccine successes against human herpesviruses have been against the varicella zoster virus. Antiherpetic drug and vaccine discovery continues to this day, an example of which being the recent clinical licensing of drugs such as letermovir and animamevir and vaccines such as Shingrix. This Special Issue takes a look at both the current antiherpetic interventions that are available today, such as the medications and vaccines that are used both prophylactically and therapeutically, and the direction that the field is headed toward in the near future. We also explore newer ideas for long-term suppression.