Human herpesviruses are all double stranded DNA viruses that enter the nucleus of the host cell. HHVs replicate in the nucleus of the infected cells and can enter both a lytic and latent phase. In the lytic phase, the viral genes are being actively transcribed and many times ultimately lead to cell death. In the lytic phase the virus is able to spread to other hosts due to open sores and other such mechanisms. In the latent phase the amount of viral transcript is heavily reduced. In this phase the host will show little to no signs of virus infection. This state can be maintained for very long periods of time and infection with HHVs can last a lifetime.
