Followup to Herpes Blood Tests

[t1234]

Thanks, I assume then that anyone who tests positive for hsv2
in a realiable test such as Herpes Select has Genital Herpes
and can transmit it via viral shedding???

Also--what about blood transfusions--does this mean
than anyone receiving contaminated blood will show up
positive or get HSV2?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Recent studies do show that--namely that people with positive herpes titers measured by a reliable test usually shed virus.

I am not expert in blood transfusions, but getting someone else's antibodies doesn't make you infected.  I believe that the antibodies you get don't hang around.  You can catch a virus if it's in the blood, but you don't catch a virus from antibodies.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

No, herpes is not transmitted via blood donations and receiving blood from someone infected with HSV 2 will not make a test look positive when it is not.

[t1234]

Terri,  I understand you are a nurse.  What's the basis?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

The basis is as Dr. Rockoff stated - if you do not have virus that is triggering the production of antibody, you don't have antibody.  Getting antibody from someone else may make an antibody test look positive for a few weeks, but will rapidly become negative as the antibody that is passed from someone else is lost.  It take VIRUS to make ANTIBODY of your own.  Without infection, there is not antibody.

Terri

[CRAZY BRAIN]

Ok the point has and always been that "blood tests with no sypmtoms" are a poor way to diagnose people. I am sure TONS of people from the BOOMER generation have this and have never had a test..they lived just fine without it..so what is the deal hear? Really what is so great about finding out that %10 of the time you could pass on a illness, but we don't KNOW FOR FACT unless we swab your crotch in a LAB for 6 months every day? THAT IS THE POINT! Psychological distress is much worse then the actual condtion.
Come on stop the ego masturbation.

[breeder]

A related discussion, yeah well this could be somrthing was started.