Compare and contrast the two types of HSV

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The two most common forms of HSV are types 1 and 2. In type 1 — the HSV most often known to cause oral herpes — cold sores or fever blisters appear on the lips and mouth. HSV 2 is better known as the virus that causes genital herpes. The fundamental difference between the two main types of HSV lies in their preferred "site of residence." The HSV 1 virus typically establishes latency in a collection of nerve cells near the ear known as the trigeminal ganglion. HSV 2 usually establishes latency at the base of the spine in the sacral ganglion. HSV types 1 and 2, nonetheless, both cause oral and genital herpes.
People who have an outbreak of oral herpes should not touch their own or someone else's genitals after touching the oral cold sores. Doing so can lead to a herpes infection of the genitals (genital HSV 1 infection). Oral sex can also result in transmission of HSV from the lips to the genitals. Thirty percent of all new cases of genital herpes result from HSV 1 infection. The opposite is true as well: Oral sex with a genital HSV 2–infected person can cause oral HSV 2 infection (although there seems to be some degree of immunity against oral HSV 2 in people already infected with oral HSV 1).