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True parasites, viruses must have a host to survive. So they turn our
epithelial cells, hook up to the cells mitochondria and create an
infection, essentially using the epithelial cells as a host. As the
infection completes its cycle and the virus leaves this host, it then
travels to nerve cells, converting them into their host and borrowing
their mitochondria to process nutrients.
Figure 1. The herpes simplex virus life cycle. (a) Herpes simplex
virus (HSV) is shown undergoing the lytic cycle (entry, uncoating,
viral transcription and DNA replication in the nucleus, particle
assembly, exit from the cell) in epithelial cells of the skin to cause a
primary infection. (b) Some virus enters the sensory neuron
terminals and travels retrogradely to the nucleus where it
establishes latency. (c) Periodic reactivation results in anterograde
transport of viral particles, shedding from the neuron, and re-
infection of epithelial cells, which leads to asymptomatic shedding
or recurrent lesions.
If we assume that the virus has a negative polarity and the host cell
has a positive polarity, they would attract each other.
With this renewed energy the lesion site is better able to heal itself
and the outbreak is cancelled. The virus unable to find a new host
simply dies.