"virus free"
We need to be careful saying to people that they are "virus free".
This is misleading. Your body cannot "get rid" of the virus. All
viruses encode themselves in your DNA permanently. What your body can
do is attack them with its immune system and render the virus almost
useless, which is great news. But it's misleading for you to be told
or for you to think the virus has vanished from your body. I wish it
worked that way, but it doesn't. For example, if you had chicken pox
as a child, that virus is still in your body to this day. It's just
that it's been dealt with by your immune system and does not cause you
any harm whatsoever at this time. But, in an older adult who may be in
a compromised immune state, the virus can come back in a slightly
different form...as shingles. This is a classic example of how a virus
can appear to be "gone", yet still resurface even decades later. Stay
healthy...all the best!