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A member asked:
My boyfriend of a year has a herpes cold sore on his lip and he says he has never had it before.i don't have the virus. can hsv-1 be dormant for years and suddenly outbreak?
9 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
The short: Answer is yes it can be dormant for a long time.
Answered 2/24/2018
4.2k views
Absolutely: Most people are infected with oral hsv as children and can indeed lay dormant for years and then emerge. You may even have it and not realize it, unless you have had antibody testing that is negative. Also, oral herpes and genital herpes are two separate viruses so this doesn't necessarily mean that he has been unfaithful or performed oral sex on someone else or anything of the sort.
Answered 4/14/2016
4.1k views
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