Canker Sores

[Moojuice]

I over simplified.
It should be noted that Viruses dont nessesarily kill the host cell to replicate. This is one of the reasons why Herpes will stay with you. Many Viruses enter a cell by fusing with it's membrane. Virus's that dont kill their hosts exit the same way they came in.
When herpes causes sores, it means that at some point it has begun to fail exit properly. Since it cant exit, the cells explode, causing tissue damage.
Herpes also lays dormant in your nervous system, usually the spine.
" think it may be an easy concept to misunderstand, however, because with AIDS for example the immune system shuts down, therefore the virus has free reign.."
HIV has free reign long before the immune system shuts down. In fact, it requires a good immune system to operate effectively, because those are the very cells it infects.
One method of reducing the number of HIV particles in someone is to introduce drugs that completely destroy a persons immune system (So that most of the machinery producing HIV is destroyed), and then quickly build it back up while giving them medication which retards HIV replication.
HIV enters a cell by accessing the D4 receptors on T-Cells. This is exactly the same way the plague, which killed a 3rd of europes population entered (1 out of 10 people in europe are immune or resistant to HIV because of this, lacking D4 receptors as an immunity to the black death). It exits by melding with the cell lining (The same way Herpes works). Immune system damage is caused when the host cell dies. No one know why this is. It doesnt explode, it just stops working and dies.
A Virus alters the DNA of your cells, that's how it works.

[dizzing]

wow, awesome explanation you and tangiers should hook up and discover exciting new ways for making all of us look like we have no clue what we're talking about just kidding

[dizzing]

also interestingly enough, all the information here would completely reverse in correctness if we were talking about LSD instead of herpes.  lsd doesn't stay in your spine, and it doesn't affect your dna at all, despite what EVERYONE will try to tell you.  pharmacologically, that idea makes absolutely no sense.

[Sonthert]

So am I correct in my assertion that viruses rewrite the DNA temporarily or not?