unless no one has ever kissed you and unless you've never had sex it is possible that you've picked up an oral or genital herpes virus. oral herpes usually caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (hsv-1) shows up as cold sores or fever blisters on the mouth. even a casual peck on the lips from someone with a cold sore can give you the virus. that's why it's so common: as many as 50% to 80% of adults in the u. s. have oral herpes. genital herpes most often caused by the second type of herpes virus (hsv-2) is less common but plenty of people still have it. roughly one in five american adults has genital herpes. but up to 90% of those who have it don't know they are infected. you could be one of them.
could i have genital herpes and not know?