Herpes Diagnosis

Most doctors do NOT include a test for herpes during routine STD testing for their patients.  This is because they don’t consider herpes to be a serious, life-threatening condition.  So unless you specifically ask your doctor to give you a blood test for herpes, it is unlikely that you or your friends or partners have ever been tested.   So start asking specifically for a herpes blood test.

Herpes Lab Cultures

Many doctors and health care professionals are not  up-to-date about herpes diagnosis and will tell you that the only way to  accurately diagnose whether or not you have the genital herpes virus is by  taking a swab from an active herpes sore or lesion and sending it to the lab for a culture test.   However, this only works if the patient’s sore is fairly new or else the virus may no longer be active.  Because most people have few, mild or no outbreaks, we recommend taking a herpes blood test when no active sores or lesions are present.

Herpes Blood Tests

Many out-of-date doctors will tell you that there are no reliable blood tests for herpes that can accurately distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2.  These doctors *used to* be right.   And some  of the old, inaccurate blood tests are still out there.   But medicine has made great strides, and since 1999, there are several NEW IgG blood  tests now available that DO very accurately distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2 and are 97-100%  ACCURATE, if taken no earlier than 12-16 weeks after your exposure to the  virus.

Since some doctors  and clinics are still using the  older, inaccurate blood tests. Always make sure to find out the name of the  company and test that your doctor or lab is ordering for herpes blood  tests, and make sure it is one of the tests on the “good” list and not one of the tests on the “bad” list.

Good Herpes Blood Tests Reference Guide

Click here to view the Recommended Herpes  Blood Tests Reference Guide from the American Social Health Association (ASHA).   http://www.ashastd.org/pdfs/HerpesBloodTestGuide.pdfGive a copy to your doctor!

Some of the Good Tests include: Captia ELISA HSV1 and HSV2 Tests from Trinity Biotech USA,  HerpeSelect 1&2 Differentiation Immunoblot from Focus Diagnostics, and the Western Blot Test from University of Washington, considered to be the “gold standard” for all herpes blood tests.

Old, Innacurate Blood Tests List

Here is a list of some of the old, inaccurate Herpes Blood Tests and their names.  Make sure your doctor is NOT using one of these:

- Diasorin,  Herpes 1 or 2 IgG Clin-ELISATM, Stillwater, MN
- Zeus, HSV-1 and/or HSV-2 ELISA Test System, Raritan, NJ
- Sigma, Herpes 1-IgG, Herpes 2-IgG, St Louis, MO
- Wampole Labs, HSV-1 IgG ELISA, HSV-2 IgG ELISA,  Cranbury, NJ

Free Confidential Herpes Testing

If you do not have health insurance, you can  sometimes get a type-specific herpes blood test done at local public health  clinics funded by your city, county or state.  Check your local listings for the  public health clinic near you.  Unfortunately, not all public health clinics do  type-specific herpes blood tests, so you might want to call first before making  the trip. In many cities,  Planned Parenthood offers free herpes blood tests.  Donations are always welcome.

Private Confidential Lab Testing

In most states, you can order  your own CONFIDENTIAL blood tests for STDs including herpes by using services  like GetSTDtested.com or HealthCheckUSA or TSTD.org. Most of these services use the HerpeSelect tests from Focus Diagnostics. The Herpes Only test panel (using the IgG HerpeSelect test listed  below) costs $98-$149.  This fee includes the laboratory testing, preparation of  the order, physician supervision of ordering and interpretation of the results,  pre-test counseling, post-test counseling, and any confirmatory testing that may  be required. You enter your zip code and it will tell you all the local labs  near you which will do the tests.  You must sign up for the tests online and  your credit card will be charged before you go to the lab. These companies also  offer tests for other STD’s which you may or may not want to take.  Your results  are confidential and are not part of your regular medical records. 

Timing

You must WAIT AT LEAST  12-16 WEEKS after you were exposed to herpes, in order to give the virus  antibodies enough time to develop in your blood stream. Otherwise the blood tests may  not be accurate.