Many people infected with HSV-2 display no physical symptoms—individuals with no symptoms are described as asymptomatic or as having subclinical herpes. However, infection with herpes can be fatal. Other
Neonatal herpes simplex is a HSV infection in an infant. It is a rare but serious condition, usually caused by vertical transmission of HSV-1 or -2 from mother to newborn. During immunodeficiency, herpes simplex can cause unusual lesions in the skin. One of the most striking is the appearance of clean linear erosions in skin creases, with the appearance of a knife cut. Herpetic sycosis is a recurrent or initial herpes simplex infection affecting primarily the hair follicles. : 369  Eczema herpeticum is an infection with herpesvirus in patients with chronic atopic dermatitis may result in spread of herpes simplex throughout the eczematous areas. : 373 Herpetic keratoconjunctivitis, a primary infection, typically presents as swelling of the conjunctiva and eyelids (blepharoconjunctivitis), accompanied by small white itchy lesions on the surface of the cornea. Herpetic sycosis is a recurrent or initial herpes simplex infection affecting primarily the hair follicle. : 369

Bells palsy
Although the exact cause of Bells palsy—a type of facial paralysis—is unknown, it may be related to reactivation of HSV-1. This theory has been contested, however, since HSV is detected in large numbers of individuals having never experienced facial paralysis, and higher levels of antibodies for HSV are not found in HSV-infected individuals with Bells palsy compared to those without. Antivirals may improve the condition slightly when used together with corticosteroids in those with severe disease.
In the United States, it is estimated that about 1,640,000 HSV-2 seroconversions occur yearly (730,000 men and 910,000 women, or 8.4 per 1,000 persons).In British Columbia in 1999, the seroprevalence of HSV-2 antibody in leftover serum submitted for antenatal testing revealed a prevalence of 17%, ranging from 7% in women 15–19 years old to 28% in those 40–44 years.In Norway, a study published in 2000 found that up to 70–90% of genital initial infections were due to HSV-1.In Nova Scotia, 58% of 1,790 HSV isolates from genital lesion cultures in women were HSV-1; in men, 37% of 468 isolates were HSV-1. History
Herpes has been known for at least 2,000 years. Emperor Tiberius is said to have banned kissing in Rome for a time due to so many people having cold sores. In the 16th-century Romeo and Juliet,  blisters "oer ladies lips" are mentioned. In the 18th century, it was so common among prostitutes that it was called "a vocational disease of women". The term herpes simplex appeared in Richard Boultons A System of Rational and Practical Chirurgery in 1713, where the terms herpes miliaris and herpes exedens also appeared. Herpes was not found to be a virus until the 1940s.Herpes antiviral therapy began in the early 1960s with the experimental use of medications that interfered with viral replication called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) inhibitors. The original use was against normally fatal or debilitating illnesses such as adult encephalitis, keratitis, in immunocompromised (transplant) patients, or disseminated herpes zoster.