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Nothing worse than a cold sore, a fever blister, blossoming on your lip the day of your big event. Nearly all of us become infected with the herpes virus early in life during almost unnoticeable infections, but what makes the virus bloom.

Now University of Virginia microbiologists have identified the key to herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) reactivation. What awakens this sleeping villain is the viral protein UL12.5. It appears and triggers herpes reanimation just before it also turns on an antiviral immune response. The latter apparently comes too little too late.

Now that UL12.5 is identified as the reactivation trigger, it becomes a target for therapy for preventing those embarrassing outbreaks. This same mechanism that triggers oral herpes may also underlie the reactivation of genital herpes. Since latent herpes infections in both parts of the body are lifelong infections, stopping reactivation could have major implications for millions of people.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413965122

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-cold-sore-discovery-unknown-trigger.html

#herpesvirus #hsv1 #hsv2 #oral #genital #feverblisters #ul125

Solving The Cold Sore Mystery

Dr. Howard Smith Reports