I have a cold sore on my lips right now. Normally I would sleep on my own when that happens, but I’m going away for a while, so my girlfriend wanted to sleep together, even though she really doesn’t want to catch the herpes virus. Unfortunately she got too close to my pillow and it briefly touched her face. She panicked and had to get up, saying she can feel her skin tingle and dry up. I was really confused, because I’d been pretty sure that it takes much more time than that for any infection or immune reaction to develop that would have a perceivable effect, so I thought it was perhaps psychological, but she got cross with me, like I’m denying something obvious.

What happens when your body gets into contact with a virus? How does the infection start? Can you feel them on your skin?