alpo

There are other things that can happen, but they are predicated on some other health conditions that happen as you get older. As you age, you are more likely to get a condition that may suppress your immune system. There are gazillions of people on the wait list for kidney transplants. Heart transplants are becoming more common. Chemotherapeutic agents used for certain malignancies can also wipe out the immune system. The herpes virus (usually type I) can cause an encephalitis that is fatal in up to 70% of untreated cases.

I'm not saying to avoid sexual contact because you should be scared of getting encephalitis, just that there are other things that the herpes virus can do besides giving you a cold sore.