Misdiagnosis?

I recently went to the Health Department to get on birth control.  They did a pap smear and 3 weeks later I received a note saying I needed to come in and discuss my results.  I was told that my pap smear showed I had herpes.  As far as I know I have never had an outbreak.  Can they tell if I have herpes for sure from just a pap smear if I have had no known outbreak?  What are the odds that I have been misdiagnosed?

[Mistakeguy789]

I am honestly not really sure on this.  I know that it is not typically looked at in the pap smear but if it is detected I don't know what the false positive rate if there is one.  Did they tell you what type of HSV-1?  

I would say unless someone else suggests otherwise that you could follow up with your provider and have a type specific IgG blood test done.  You will get an accurate result on that test if the last possible exposure was more than 3 months ago.

[jelyse]

my doctor has always told me that a pap smear dosent look for stds. So i dont know wat is going on here.

[jelyse]

sorry just wanted to say that a pap smear can detect clahmydia if u ask ur doctor to include it, but as far as herpes goes i really really doubt a pap smear wud detect this. Are u sure no other swabs were done during the smear?

[pandora84]

Thanks for ya'lls responses.  I wasn't told they were doing any others and from what I've read the only way they can actually tell from a swab is if there is a lesion present.  The doctor didn't say anything about seeing anything....she said from just looking everything looked ok.  I didn't even think to ask what type or anything.  I was in shock and the woman was slightly on the rude side. I just wanted to get out of there at that point.   I'm going back to get a copy of the test results today and maybe get some answers.  I've also pretty much talked myself in to going to another doctor and getting a blood test.

[hopper167]

As I myself had a herpes scare last night (was actually razor bumps), I probably did about 3 hours of research on it last night, and how it manifests itself in very different ways depending on the person. Like you said, if a lesion was present and they did a swab, it would show up. The only way for this to happen if you didn't have open sores on your external genitals would be having sores on your cervix, which would only be detected through swabbing of it. If you are unsure about your results, I guess you have a few questions to ask yourself before going back to the doctor. Have you ever had unprotected sex?  (a condom would cover you for getting sores on your cervix) Has a condom ever broken? Does your partner(s) have any history of HSV1 or 2 (genital or oral)? Hopefully they have misdiagnosed you....it does seem odd that they would include herpes testing with your pap without you even asking

[Mistakeguy789]

I was looking over the Herpes Handbook found at www.westoverheights.com (very good resource of info).  I had forgotten about one of the Pap Smear section on diagnosing.  There is what is sometimes called a "Silver Pap".  This test checks for the presence of the Herpes virus by way of PCR (really good test).  If the virus isn't detected it doesn't mean anything as the virus really doesn't hide on the cervix.  My suggestion at this point is to follow up with your doctor and get a blood test to check for anitbodies.  I would also suggest that if you do this blood test you need to get it done after at least 3 months after your last possible sexual encounter.  

[pandora84]

So I just got home from following up with the doctor.  I was told by this same woman that when the lab looked at my cells they showed the cells that carry the herpes virus.  She could not tell me the name of any particular test done to show the disease or what type it was or anything....just that I had the cells that carry the disease.  Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part but I am going to be getting a second opinion.  It seems to me like these folks would just make herpes something they test for in an STD screening since it's so common and so many people are unaware they have it.....Had I known to specifically ask for that test I would have done that back in December!

[gracefromHHP]

the pap test doesn't look for std's.  Some specific brands do look for a few but in general, pap testing is not the best way to test for std's. you should be requesting yearly std testing if your situation calls for it.

When a pap test does suggest herpes, it means it sound multinucleated giant cells. This is not always accurate for diagnosing herpes. It needs proper follow up with a type specific herpes igg blood test to confirm infection as well as type it.

If you have a regular partner, they too should get a type specific herpes igg blood test done to see what their status is.

grace