You can also get herpes from kissing someone who has oral herpes. The skin on your genitals, mouth, and eyes can be infected easily. Other areas of skin may get infected if there's a way for the herpes virus to get in, like through a cut, burn, rash, or other sores. You don't have to have sex to get herpes. Sometimes herpes can be passed in non-sexual ways, like if a parent with a cold sore gives you a peck on the lips. Most people with oral herpes got it when they were kids. A mother can pass genital herpes to a baby during vaginal childbirth, but that's pretty rare.