Herpes testing
How to diagnose whether you have been infected by herpes virus? Only check the symptoms? It is not enough. Herpes testing is a good and effective way. Now, there are currently five types for herpes testing. It is possible that your doctor may not know about all of them. Thus, you should print out this page and take it to your physician’s office when you would like to do testing. And to identify whether an individual is infected with herpes, a test ideally must also provide 2 other pieces of information: A) the type of herpes simplex (HSV-1 or HSV-2) and B) location. Type and location are important for assessing transmission risks. Now we should the detail of 5 herpes testing.
1. CLINICAL EXAMINATION and an assessment of your previous symptoms (history) are very poor at detecting herpes. It is not very good herpes testing to diagnose. HSV symptoms are easily confused with other diseases, so it’s quite possible to get an incorrect diagnosis on this basis alone.
2. POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) – PCR herpes testing needs the presence of active viral shedding. But PCR is a more sensitive test than viral isolation and is also type specific. PCR is now ok for commercial use but it may not be ok at your doctor’s facility.
3. VIRAL CULTURE – Although this herpes testing has a high rate of false negatives (~50%), it is the most available testing. It is unlike blood tests, it needs the presence of active viral shedding. This test can distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2 and could be used to identify the location of infection. If you request this test, make sure that your doctor requests that the culture be typed (e.g., HSV-1) – most labs will not repor
4. TYPE-SPECIFIC BLOOD TESTS – such as the *Focus Technologies HerpeSelect (herpesonline.org recommended) ELISA or Immunoblot test, Western Blot for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 and can distinguish in the two types of HSV. Active viral shedding is not necessary to detect HSV infection (even if you are not currently having symptoms). There is only one U.S. lab that processes blood samples for the Western Blot (University of Washington) so you may have to wait 7 days or more for your results.
5. NON-TYPE SPECIFIC BLOOD TEST – Certain types of blood tests, like the older ELISA, will detect herpes, but it can’t distinguish between the two types of herpes simplex (HSV-1 & HSV-2). Both types of HSV(HSV-1 & HSV-2) can infect either location. Non-type-specific ELISAs may be useful if patients have no history of HSV infection.