The following symptoms and complaints may indicate herpes labialis:
Symptoms of primary infection
- Gingivostomatitis herpetica (stomatitis aphthosa; oral thrush) – inflammation of the oral mucosa (stomatitis) and/or gums (gingivitis) with vesicle formation.
Especially in young children, the following accompanying symptoms may occur:
- General feeling of illness
- Headache
- Fever
- Local lymphadenopathy (lymph node enlargement).
- Aphthae (painful damage to the mucosa of the gums surrounded by an inflammatory rim) and ulceration of the oral mucosa and gums
- Confluence of vesicles (fluid-filled vesicles) leads to ulceration (ulceration); these can become bacterially superinfected
Primary infection is usually asymptomatic or unrecognized. After the primary infection, the viruses persist in the nerve ganglia. Recurrent symptoms occur in one-third of people.
Symptoms of reactivation
- Dense scabby vesicles on the lips, at the junction between the red of the lips and the skin; heal without scarring.
