Dear Doc, I wonder if it makes a difference if you're 're-infected' by the herpes virus. Does it get worse if you get it more than once? Especially I'm concerned about the "ping-pong" effect where you have it going back and forth between you and your partner. Does that actually happen? Thanks, JT

Doctor Ellar: Hi JT, Herpes is an interesting virus. Often the second attack lasts less long and is less severe than the first. in some cases subsequent attacks are even less severe. Herpes recurrences often are worse at times of illness and stress. Often transmission of the herpes virus occurs at times without visible lesions during a prodrome before the lesions are visible, sometimes accompanied by a malaise but sometimes not. This is as reason to use barrier protection if one partner has never been exposed. The exact effect of contact when the virus is already lying in wait in the nervous system of the recipient is unclear. Tt can get complicated. -Ellar , MD