When is hsv1 contagious? just before and during a cold sore outbreak? or are you contagious at anytime, even if you never develop a cold sore?

Before an outbreak.: Immediately before an outbreak of herpes is when you are most contagious. Thus, you never know! if you have never developed a cold sore, there is no reason to suspect herpes or hsv1.

Any time: Most people who carry this virus do not know it. Either there are no symptoms or the symptoms have never been appreciated in a definitive way. The virus is known to be shed and cultured periodically in the absence of any symptoms. Although most contagious during acute attacks, there is less kissing if a sore is present, so most transmission takes place between attacks or is transmitted from infec