Recurrence of Genital Herpes

Herpes can come back. It stays in the nerve cells of your body, even after all signs of the infection have gone away. In most people, the virus becomes active from time to time. This is called a recurrence or an outbreak of genital herpes. In an outbreak, the virus travels along the nerves to the skin. The virus can then multiply and be passed to other people, even if there is no obvious sore or lesion.

Some people have herpes virus outbreaks only once or twice in their lives. Other people have many outbreaks of herpes each year. Scientists don't know what causes the virus to come back. Some women say the virus comes back when they are sick, under stress, out in the sun, or during their period.