The key characteristic of the herpes family of viruses is:

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The key characteristic of the herpes family of viruses is their ability to stay in host cells without producing symptoms. This is known as latency, where the virus can remain dormant and reactivate later in life, causing symptoms such as cold sores or genital herpes. While herpes viruses can have serious health consequences, such as increasing the risk of HIV transmission or causing severe illness in immunocompromised individuals, they do not typically cause organ death or destroy bone marrow. Transforming normal cells and causing cancer is a characteristic of other types of viruses, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) or hepatitis B and C viruses.

The Key Characteristic of the Herpes Family of Viruses Is