Will taking an anti-viral medication to treat my cold-sore leave me more susceptable to other illnesses?
Since antivirals tend to be very specific, you are probably not going to make yourself more susceptible to other kinds of infections. Antivirals will not affect bacteria, the same as antibiotics will not affect a virus. I’d have to recommend that you consult a doctor before proceeding, but I know doctors can be very conservative and will probably tell you not to do this. But if you can tell that you’re going to flare up, it means the virus is already active and your treatment may work. I think it’s probably okay to go ahead and take the antivirals and you shouldn’t worry about it making you more vulnerable to other illnesses. Here’s a little more info: Since viruses can’t live outside the person or animal they infect, they are much harder to kill off. Our immune system can find and kill many of the viruses that attack us, but sometimes a virus can multiply and overwhelm the immune system before the immune system “comes up to full speed”. We immunize or vaccinate people against diseases
