Herpes labialis or "orolabial herpes" is an infection of the lip by herpes simplex virus.
An outbreak typically causes small blisters or sores on or around the mouth commonly known as cold sores or fever blisters.
The sores typically heal within 2–3 weeks, but the herpes virus remains dormant in the facial nerves, following orofacial infection, periodically reactivating (in symptomatic people) to create sores in the same area of the mouth or face at the site of the original infection.
64% of adults in the United States are carriers of the virus that causes cold sores, and more than 50 million adults in the U.S. develop symptomatic episodes every year. Cold sore has a rate of frequency that varies from rare episodes to 12 or more recurrences per year.
Most sufferers experience one to three attacks annually.
The frequency and severity of outbreaks generally decreases over time.
The virus is transmitted from cold sores and also when there are no symptoms, as it can make copies of itself on the skin in the absence of a blister.
This phenomenon is called "asymptomatic shedding". 80%–90% of adults under age 50 with HSV-1 caught it from someone close to them.
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