Herpes research is constantly being conducted. There's no question that a motivation for conducting herpes research is due to how prevalent herpes is: literally billions of people throughout the world are infected with herpes, so any breakthrough in herpes treatment would produce a highly profitable outcome. One factor that may ultimately slow the progress of herpes research is the fact that herpes is essentially a nuisance and not a serious threat to overall health. A cure or vaccine for herpes then is not an uppermost priority.