>(nb:  you can't tell anything from a blood test, because all they can test
>for is the antibodies to the herpes simplex virus 1 or 2, and these will
>still be in your blood after you no longer have the virus; many people have
>the antibodies but never have the active virus; also because herpes is
>latent and hides in the nerve sheathes, it can only be tested accurately
>when cultured from a sore during an outbreak.)

It is possible to transmit the virus when an outbreak is not happening.
Asymptomatic viral shedding can occur at any time, and for this reason
anyone who has herpes must assume that she has it for life and that it
can be given to a partner even if no outbreak has ever occured. It is
fine to consider oneself "cured" if no symptoms are present, but it is
still ethically imperative to inform any sexual partners that one has had
herpes.

Mark Skowronek