When Herpes presents orally, either because of HSV1 or 2, the source is thought to be the nervous ganglia in the head area (the trigeminal ganglia) and not the ganglia at the base of the spine. For more information, check out:
Genital Herpes
As I indicated, I presented only one theory as to why the condition becomes chronic. There are many theories as the exact reasons are not well understood.
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Originally Posted by Dr. Klimpel writes:
Latent Infections
Latent infections result when an infecting virus (e.g., a herpesvirus) is maintained within a cell for a long time (sometimes years) without giving rise to progeny virus or damaging the cell. Cells infected in this way may express virus-specific antigens on their cell surface. Months to years after infection, the virus in these cells can be reactivated, replicate, and cause disease. The mechanisms by which viruses are maintained intracellularly for long periods and then reactivated are only incompletely understood. Many latent infections occur in sequestered areas of the body (such as the nervous system), where recognition of infected cells by the immune system is believed to be difficult. In addition, any cell that harbors a virus but does not express viral antigens is not recognized by the immune system.
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For more information on infective responses:
Immune Defenses
In my view, that the virus resides in a cell alone is not enough to explain the anti-bodies' inability to completely eradicate the disease. All viruses reside in cells. In my view, if residing in a cell were enough, no one would ever get over any virus. Neither the sacral nor trigeminal ganglia have the most robust circulation (particularly, lymphatic circulation). In my view, this could explain why this tissue is not as completely saturated by antibodies as are the nerve cells leading from the ganglia to the skin (where active virus cells are completely eradicated) when an outbreak occurs. I do not subscribe to the "cell does not express viral antigens" theory in the case of ganglia and HSV2 as I believe it has been established (in separate studies) that such is not the case with HSV2 in nervous system ganglia tissue.
But, why Herpes is chronic really wasn't the point of my posting.