How contagious is a cold sore?
Cold sores, like many viruses, are highly contagious. The infection is easily spread by skin-to-skin contact, as well as on personal items such as towels, combs, eating utensils and drinking glasses or basically anything the infected person has touched. Therefore, it is imperative that cold sore sufferers understand the importance of hand washing, not sharing personal items and avoiding kissing during an outbreak. Symptoms: • Tingly spot • Itchy or burning feeling • A painful blister that appears on the spot • The blister forms a yellow scab • The scab peels off, leaving healed pink skin beneath (if the scab is picked off too soon, the sore will bleed and take longer to heal) • A recurring cold sore often returns to the same spot. Statistics: • By the age of 10, approximately 30-60 percent of all children have been infected with the HSV-1. • By the age of 50, 80-90 percent of the population will carry the virus. • About 25 percent of the population infected with HSV-1 does not exhibit
