A member asked:

Cold sore on corner of lip. can virus transfer to other parts of body if i accidentally touch it?

3 doctors weighed in across 2 answers

Usually not: If a person's first Herpes simplex infection was on his lips, and he developed (and continues to have) a good level of protective antibodies against that strain of herpes, then he should not be able to get a new infection elsewhere on his body from that same strain of herpes. However, life is not 100% predictable, so nature might seem to "break the rules" sometimes.

Answered 5/17/2018

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No: A "cold sore" at corner of lip must be a recurrence. This will not spread unless there is a severe immune failure. Such things occur only with very severe disease, are rare, and are part of an obvious disease. Oral treatment with 2 grams [2 pills] of valacyclovir at prodrome [first tingling before the blister] will dramatically reduce the symptoms and shorten the healing.

Answered 6/10/2018

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