Although the majority of North Americans have contracted oral herpes at some point in their lives, the majority of the infected do not display symptoms (are asymptomatic), so there is not as much information about the transmission of oral herpes as there should be.
In a nutshell, it is not worth worrying about transmitting it if you are between outbreaks. It is possible to transmit oral herpes when no cold sores are present, but because so many adults have it (some stats are as high as 80 – 90%), it is not worth foregoing intimacy altogether due to the fear of transmission.
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