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FelisCantabrigiensis t1_j5uq5rq wrote

Reply to comment by Suspicious_Ad_4768 in What determines whether we can create a vaccine for an illness or not? by ShelfordPrefect

I haven't kept up with the exact differences, but I will say that rabies is 100% deadly and herpes is 0% deadly, which may affect the amount of effort put into this.

Rabies also does not hide out in nerves. It travels along nerves to the brain, but it doesn't hide there in a mostly-inactive state for a long time. It vigorously infects nerves and travels along them, which makes it more vulnerable to immune cells and also triggers more response from immune cells.

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dbx999 t1_j5xmcnr wrote

When a virus occupies the nerve cells and the brain, it’s like occupying an immune-free zone. The technical term I believe is immune privileged sites. These areas do not have immune system activity. This is probably why these viruses have adapted to occupy these sites.

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FelisCantabrigiensis t1_j5yqcpv wrote

Correct. Not least because immune activity killing off nerve and brain cells is a serious problem because they regrow slowly or never, so the compromise is that the immune system does not touch irreplaceable cells and aims to kill viruses and bacteria before they can reach those cells.

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dbx999 t1_j5yqww6 wrote

Worrisome that Covid is found in various areas including immune privileged sites as this indicates full recovery from the infection may not occur

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