Cold sore triggers vary from person to person, but HSV is an opportunistic infection. That means it rears its ugly head when, for whatever reason, your immune system is too weak to Glutathione: Role in Oxidative Nitrosative Stress, Antioxidant Defense, and Treatments Raj Rai 2021 ChemistrySelect Wiley Online Library HSV 1 induced N6 methyladenosine reprogramming via ICP0 mediated suppression of METTL14 potentiates oncolytic activity in glioma ScienceDirect HERPES VIRUSES reactivation Sequence of events** When a person is suffering from chronic stress, excess Cortisol and Adrenaline with lowered Glutathione. Glutathione is the body's most important antioxidant. Insufficient Glutathione reduces the EpsteinBarr virus infection controls the concentration of the intracellular antioxidant glutathione by upregulation of the glutamate transporter EAAT3 in tumor cells