Husband diagnosed by sight but blood test neg

[Mrspip]

My husband had some sores come up on the shaft of his penis about 48 hours after sex where things were a little tight. He never noticed if they were fluid filled but they did have scabs. He also had swollen lymp nodes in his groin area. He went to the Dr and the Dr said definitely herpes but to come back in two weeks for a blood test. So he did. We got the results today and they were negative. But the Dr wants him to come back in 8 weeks to retest just to make sure. We have been married for 15 years and without a doubt neither of us has been with anyone else. I have never had any symptoms either. So my questions are
1. Can you get a negative blood test if it is suspected that you have had this for years just with no significant outbreaks?
2. If it isn't herpes what could it have been? Have anyone ever been misdiagnosed?

[gracefromHHP]

I totally agree - it's unfortunate that this provider dropped the ball and didn't do any lesion cultures of symptoms when he was seen :(  He also seems rather uneducated on herpes blood testing too to top it off.

get yourself tested and make sure that your husband had herpes igg blood testing done and not igm testing. If you are negative and hubby is negative, odds are this is a non-herpes related issue.

lube, lube and more lube too!!

grace

[castello80]

Diagnosing herpes visually isn't the most reliable since only about 30% of visual diagnosis are correct. However, a doctor is completely capable of diagnosing herpes visually, and since the doctor thinks it's definitely herpes then it probably is. The 30% accuracy comes from misdiagnosing herpes as something else. It can take up to three months for HSV antibodies to be detected through a blood test, so your doctor is right in having him come back for testing after another eight weeks. Did he test for HSV-1 and HSV-2 or just for HSV-2? If you have a history of cold sores (HSV-1) this could have been transmitted to your husband genitally through oral sex if he doesn't have an already established oral infection of HSV-1.

1). That happens rarely if ever in regards to infections lasting years.
2). See your physician. It could be lichen planus, severe skin irritation, folliculitis (depending on the area of the lesions) among other things. However, lichen planus doesn't scab, but if he picked at it severely then it's possible. People are misdiagnosed visually, but most of the time their herpes is actually believed to be something else. In your case, the doctor said your husband's symptoms are definitely herpes, and since the lesions probably look like textbook herpes then he has no reason to think otherwise. Cultures are highly accurate as well as blood tests after three months of symptoms.

Have you been tested to know your status for HSV-1 and HSV-2? If not, you should be.

I'm surprised the doctor didn't take a culture of the blisters to get a faster and more reliable diagnosis. If your husband gets any future blisters or bumps then he should have them swabbed by your physician as soon as possible.