Wondering what tests I need to have done..

[sam57]

I was diagnosed with genital herpes less than a month ago. My symptoms were extremely mild which is why it made it so hard for me to believe that I have it. (had a "lesion" cultured came back positive). I don't know if it is HSV-1 or HSV-2 my gyno said my insurance won't cover the blood test so I have to call and ask. Before I do that I need to know what the test is called because I have read on here that the combined test almost always comes back negative and is not the one I want. Thank you in advance.

[optimist]

@sam57 Most people with HSV have very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. A minority of people with HSV have significant recurring symptoms but that is what most people associate with herpes, so I understand why you were surprised.

 

To determine type, you will want to take an IgG test (*not* an IgM test) but you will want to be sure it has been 16 weeks since you were infected to allow time for the antibodies to build. At that point, you are looking for a positive result above a value of 3.5 for a definitive diagnosis of HSV type. Your positive swab result indicates you are positive for at least one type of HSV, but if both types come back with a positive result and one has a value below 3.5, you may want to follow up with a Western Blot (a different type of test) to confirm diagnosis of that type.

[mr_hopp]

Hey Sam!

 

Getting your lesion cultured is the most conclusive test there is since there was enough virus present to give a positive result (culturing sometimes gives a false negative because there's not enough virus present to be detectable), so they should be able to tell you whether it's 1 or 2.

 

Here's a helpful writeup from ASHA for testing to arm you with more information: http://www.ashasexualhealth.org/stdsstis/herpes/herpes-testing/

[sam57]

Thanks guys!