Further testing needed?

Hi, So about 6 years ago I had herpes like symptoms on the genitals a few days after receiving oral sex. Was visually diagnosed but not swabbed. Went to get tested for all STDs a few months later and the nurse told me they couldn't do a herpes blood test but tested for everything else which came out negative. About a year later had what appeared to be a mild recurrence which went away after a few days then nothing since. I recently had a Capita IgG Elisa blood test done through lab corp and both HSV1 and HSV2 came back negative. Do I need to have more blood testing done here? If so what test should I get?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Yes.  I would recommend the herpes western blot.  It is far more sensitive for HSV 1 than the ELISA test, and that's what you would most likely have contracted if it was oral sex only that you had.  You can get that by ordering a test kit directly from the University of Washington or by calling our clinic to have us order it if you become a patient of ours.  

HSV 1 genitally will recur infrequently.  

Probably would be good to know what's actually going on here so you can be proactive about sexual encounters.

terri