Mothers can give the herpes virus to their baby during childbirth. If the baby is born during the mother's first episode of genital herpes, the baby can have serious problems.
What happens once you have HSV-1 or HSV-2?Once a person becomes infected with a herpes virus, the virus never leaves the body. After the first outbreak, the virus moves from the skin cells to nerve cells. The virus stays in the nerve cells forever. But it usually just stays there. In this stage, the virus is said to be dormant, or asleep. But it can become active again.
Some things that can trigger (wake up) the virus are:
- Stress.
- Illness.
- Fever.
- Sun exposure.
- Menstrual periods.
- Surgery.
