Can a virus cause hives?

People can get hives for lots of different reasons (though sometimes, the cause is not known). One common reason for getting hives is an allergic reaction. Some common allergic triggers are certain foods (like milk, wheat, eggs, shellfish, berries, and nuts), medicines (such as antibiotics), and insect stings or bites. read more

This is what causes the hives to appear on your skin, however, more specifically, viral hives are generally caused by a viral infection such as the flu, hepatitis, herpes, croup and many other viral infections. Your immune system is attempting to eradicate these viruses by releasing the histamine that causes your viral hives. read more