A woman from Zhejiang, China, claims that she caught the herpes virus by holding the microphone too close to her mouth at a karaoke lounge.

The unnamed woman took to Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) to share the story of how she became infected with the HSV-1 virus, which usually causes cold sores around the mouth, eight years ago. In 2017, she visited a karaoke lounge in Zhejiang and got a bit carried away during her performance, holding the microphone much closer to her mouth than she should have. Sometime later, tiny, pustulent blisters appeared around her mouth, but although they were painful and itchy, she didn’t pay too much attention to them, and they eventually went away. Only they came back in a matter of days, and this time, the woman sought medical attention and learned that she had somehow contracted the HSV-1 herpes virus.

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“I have to carry this virus for life; there is no medication available to treat it,” the woman lamented. “There is only medication to relieve the pain, but the symptoms are recurring.”

The woman said that she was certain she had become infected with the HSV-1 virus from the karaoke microphone, adding that she had never had herpes blisters before that. She has been struggling with herpes for the last eight years, and cold sores started appearing on her cheeks this year.

The woman’s clip went viral on Chinese social media, but dermatologists have yet to confirm that her story holds up, and one can actually get infected with HSV-1 by touching a tainted microphone with one’s lips.