contradictions

[Km_girl]

I'm really tired trying to figure out how everything works. I've seen many of you here talking about the western blot What about Wb being the gold standard for herpes testing. 

I read a lot on Terri Warren's website and she always recommends wb as a definitive test. 

I recently asked an infectious disease doctor in my country a question and he said that the gold standard is PCR (????).

Inconsistency in the medical community takes away the peace. 

He also said that he usually doesn't need a confirmatory test, just a clinical examination. I don't believe doctors are error proof.

If the tests are not useful and just look at the lesion, why are they there? Why all the theory about people with herpes having igg antibodies if the test comes back negative and they insist you have herpes? 

I am exhausted. 

[Flowerteacher55]

Hello,

I am so sorry that you are feeling so exhausted. 

Remember to take time for yourself. Be kind to yourself and take care of yourself mentally and physically. You deserve to be okay ❤️. 

Yes, Terri Warren is correct, the Western Blot is the ultimate test used for definitive results. You can get it by sending a blood sample to the University of Washington's Virology Clinic. All you need to do is call (or your doctor can call) 206-520-4600 to request the HSV Type-Specific Serology information packet. However, if you would like, I can call the Clinic tomorrow and ask them about it, too!  

Yes, it is really confusing and frustrating to get different answers form different health care providers! If you wanted to check out the test and learn more about it, here is a link: https://testguide.labmed.uw.edu/public/view/HSWB

The University explains that... "HSV is diagnosed by testing for the virus from oral or genital lesions, or by testing the blood for HSV antibodies.  When a lesion is present, it is always helpful to confirm it is due to HSV by doing a test for HSV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) or by viral culture from the lesion.  A positive PCR or viral culture can by “typed” to determine if it is HSV-1 or HSV-2. 

Blood testing for HSV antibodies can be performed at any time during infection, even when there are no symptoms present.  The antibodies may not develop until 2 months after someone has become infected.  Antibody tests should be “type specific” and able to distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2.  There are many commercially available type specific HSV antibody tests.  However, some of these are limited by giving false positive results for HSV-2, particularly if someone is infected with HSV-1. The Western Blot, the “gold standard” HSV antibody test, is performed at the University of Washington."

I hope that this helps.

Sending prayers and happiness your way 🌻!