Can you get herpes from kissing?

Does the type of kiss matter?

Nope. You can get herpes with any kiss: a peck on the cheek or a mouth kiss when the tongue is involved. But the longer you stay in direct skin-to-skin contact, the higher the chance of getting it.

Can you get herpes from kissing someone without an outbreak?

Yes, it is possible to get herpes kissing someone without an outbreak. How?

A positive person can shed the herpes virus from the skin of the infected area at any time. An asymptomatic person is believed to shed the virus 4% of the time, mostly when the immune system is down and the virus gets activated and reaches the skin's surface.

Can you kiss someone with herpes and not get it?

Yes, you might not get herpes by kissing somebody with a history of herpes. It is a low chance of getting it from an asymptomatic person. It is a 96% chance you are not going to get it.

Can you get herpes from kissing someone with genital herpes?

It depends on how you define “genital” herpes.

If you define genital herpes as HSV-2, you can contract it if the person has that virus orally. How can one tell if the person has HSV-2 orally? Only if the person had an oral herpes outbreak in the past and the herpes swab test confirmed the presence of HSV-2 orally. Herpes blood test cannot establish the location of the virus.

But if you define “genital” herpes as the anatomic location of herpes, you cannot get it by kissing the person that has the herpes genitally.

When am I at most risk of getting herpes from kissing?

When a person is symptomatic (with visible herpes sore even if it is crusted) and when the herpes is recently diagnosed (higher chance of herpes shedding in the beginning). [3] Persistent Genital Herpes Simplex Virus-2 Shedding Years Following the First Clinical Episode https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3058740/#:~:text=Total%20HSV%20genital%20shedding,-The%20overall%20percentage&text=HSV%20shedding%20occurred%20on%2033.6%25%20of%20days%20among%20participants%20%3C1,Table%202%20and%20Figure%202)