Some researchers are studying new therapies for the treatment of herpes, including a topical foscarnet cream and a topical gel of the anti-CMV drug cidofovir. Another topical drug being studied for oral and genital herpes is trifluridine, a drug already approved for the treatment of herpes infection of the eye.

If you would like to find out more about these studies, there is an interactive web site run by ACRIA, the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America. Another useful service for finding clinical trials is AIDSinfo.nih.gov, a site run by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. They have "health information specialists" you can talk to at their toll-free number at 1-800-HIV-0440 (1-800-448-0440).