Blood test said I was exposed to herpes?!


Question: Blood test said I was exposed to herpes!?
I don't know what it means! I was cultured for herpes a while back and it was negative!. Can someone explain this to me!?Www@Answer-Health@Com


Answers:
Exposed to herpes means you have herpes!. There is no such thing, really, as having once had herpes, or having been exposed to herpes, or being a carrier of herpes!. It's all the same thing - you have herpes!.

A blood test can tell you THAT you have herpes, and it can tell you which strain of herpes you have (HSV1 or HSV2) but it cant' tell you WHERE you have herpes!. And since you can have either strain in either place, you are stuck making some assumptions about where you have the infection!.

By a herpes culture, I assume you mean that you had a sore swabbed and it came back negative!? This is the big downside to getting sores swabbed!. There are a lot of false negatives with a herpes swab!. If the sore was starting to heal, for example, or if the swab just didn't pick up enough virus for a positive test, then you'll test negative even though you are positive!. (The good thing about a swab is that if it is positive, you know you have herpes, and where you have it!.)

I don't know what your other symptoms are!. In the absence of any symptoms, most folks just assume that a positive blood test for HSv1 means you have oral herpes (and almost everyone does) while a positive blood test for HSV2 means you have genital herpes!. It's an assumption - you don't know for sure - but its what most folks assume!.

If you have had symptoms that make you think you have genital herpes, then I would assume that you do indeed have genital herpes - regardless of what your swab said!.

And if you do get symptoms from time to time, I would defiintely go for another swab test, so you know for sure where you have the virus!.

I put a link to a very detailed webpage about herpes testing!. The site in general is quite good and easy to read, but the testing section goes into a LOT of technical detail!.

Sorry for your confusion!. Www@Answer-Health@Com

Not too sure!. Hope this helps!

"Herpes Blood Tests

There are several tests that are used to diagnose herpes!. Some are more accurate than others and lots of people need to be tested more than once!.

Blood tests are generally used in cases where no visible symptoms are present!. A blood test works by detecting the presence of herpes antibodies!. There is a possibility that the virus will not show up in a blood test, and a positive result is not always indicative that a person has genital herpes!.

Firstly, after the first exposure to herpes, a person may take several weeks to develop the antibodies that the test looks for!. Usually, it takes two weeks to three months after exposure to herpes for antibodies to appear in the blood!. Some blood tests detect antibodies sooner than others!. However, once antibodies are found they remain in the body for life!.

Secondly, blood tests cannot tell the difference between the two types of herpes, HSV-1 and HSV-2!. For this reason, anyone seeking an accurate diagnosis of genital herpes must be sure to get a "type-specific" serologic test, which can accurately distinguish HSV-2 from HSV-1 antibodies!. Most commercially available kit assays currently cannot make this distinction despite their claims!.

If active symptoms are present and the sores are not healed you should request a specific virus culture or assay for the herpes virus!. A Viral culture looks for the presence of the virus in the lesion!. This method is very specific and does not frequently give a positive result when something else is the culprit!.

The viral culture often misses herpes even when it is present!. Often a patient who has received a negative culture result will be asked to come back again when a new genital lesion appears so the culture can be tried a second or third time!.

If you have been experiencing unusual symptoms or feel that you or your partner may have been exposed to an STD you should visit your Doctor as soon as possible for a Herpes Test!. "Www@Answer-Health@Com

I have it and sometimes it still comes up negative, you have it!.!.!.but you'll be fine!. It's really no big deal!Www@Answer-Health@Com





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