Herpes Misdiagnosis

Dear Doctor,

Thank you for providing all this information and support. I wanted to ask you a personal question about misdiagnosis.

In April 2010 I was diagnosed with Genital HSV-1 after a swab test was taken. The doctor told me to confirm I would need to wait 12-16 weeks and take an anti-body test. So, since the primary infection it has been 5 months. I got tested using the Herpes Select HSV 1 and 2 test with Western Blot Confirmation last week. The results say that I am NEGATIVE?!? Could my first swab test have been a false-positive? Do I need to get re-tested and if not, how do I figure out what I actually have? I had many painful lesions that were treated with Valtrex. Can it be assumed that since I got better and Valtrex was the treatment that I do in fact have HSV-1?

This has been a harrowing experience and all this confusion is really not helping. Can you help me?
Thank you!

[gracefromHHP]

this is not the doctor's forum. you have to pay to post there.  

even the WB still misses 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections. you already know what you have and where you have it. no need for any further testing as far as your hsv1.  You have hsv1 genitally as confirmed by culture. it doesn't get any better than that as far as accurate diagnosis.

You can still contract hsv2 genitally so screening for that is needed. Best to ask potential partners to get type specific herpes igg blood tests to see what their status is so that you both can make educated decisions about what precautions to take together.  

grace