Dormant Herpes

[Healthygal1025]

If you have dormant herpes will it come up in a swab test and/or blood test? I got swab tested less than 6 months ago, never had sex and now my doc is saying I have herpes. Why didn't it show up before?

[gracefromHHP]

unfortunately lesion cultures have a very high false negative rate which is why it's recommended that if you had symptoms suspicious for herpes that were swabbed and come back negative, to follow up at the proper time with a type specific herpes igg blood test. it's really unfortunate that your provider did not do so :(

did your current lesion culture come back as being hsv1 or hsv2+?

do you have a regular partner?

grace

[castello80]

On most days if you were to get a swab without an obvious lesion or blister then the swab would come up negative since herpes isn't contagious 24/7 365. If you had an obvious lesion the first time you were swabbed it probably came up negative because you waiting a few days to get it cultured and the viral load drops significantly. Cultures or swabs are highly reliable, and are more efficient than blood tests.

Just because you didn't get symptoms for six months doesn't mean that herpes would be undetecable through a blood test. In most cases, people produce antibodies that are detectable through a blood test by three months following an exposure. Many will test positive within the first few weeks after exposure and very, very few will take longer than 6 months to develop detectable antibodies. If you were to take a blood test now or any other time in the future then it'll come up positive for whatever type you have.

[Healthygal1025]

I had the swab test 6 months ago that came back negative. Today I found out from the swab that I have genital herpes. I haven't had the blood test yet but I'm just shocked that 6 months later it showed up when I thought I was in the clear. If the herpes was dormant 6 months ago and I would have had the blood test, would it have shown up?

[castello80]

Herpes antibodies are detectable in most cases after three months following an exposure. Few will not be able to test positive via blood for six months. What type of herpes did your doctor say you tested positive for? Since you say you've never had sex then really what you're at risk for is HSV-1, which is in most cases cold sores although it can be transmitted to the genitals of those who don't have a history of cold sores. I'm a little confused. Was the swab positive or the blood test positive or both? If the swab was positive then you do have herpes, and you know the location of the infection.