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Positive Swab Negative Blood

I recently had my first outbreak and went to my doctor to be tested for genital herpes. My swab test came back positive for hsv 1 but my blood test can back negative for both types. I had a blood test 3 years ago and it was negative for both as well. My boyfriend and I have been in a monogamous relationship for 6 months and neither of us have had any symptoms until now. My question is: Because my swab was positive and my blood test was negative does that mean that my boyfriend had to have given it to me or could I have had it prior to him and still have a negative blood test?
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101028 tn?1419603004
can hsv1 be transmitted from genitals to genitals? indeed it can be. if there was no oral sex given to you within 3 weeks of your ob, options are genital to genital transmission as well as just your first obvious recurrence of a prior infection. did you have multiple lesions or just a single lesion when you were seen?
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Avatar universal
This is an interesting situation. Has he given you oral in the last 4-8 weeks for example?

He needs to be tested to figure out his status before making conclusions. If he is negative for both types then clearly you know you didn't get it from him but from somebody else. If he is positive, it's possible he gave you oral within the last few months, but you're body has not yet seroconverted. Did you receive an antibody count or numerical value associated with your negative tests? If so, what were they?
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Correct, there was no oral sex.
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HSV1 is much more likely to be passed during oral sex. Are you saying there was no oral sex in the 10 days preceding the first sores appearing?
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Is it possible that he has Hsv 1 genitally and gave it to me that way? I know it's unlikely but based on our encounter he could not have given it to me if he has Hsv 1 orally.
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Avatar universal
Agree, with the above. This seems to be a situation where your bf has HSV1 orally and spread his infection to you. It's the fastest growing genital infection based on my research and it's due to the increase in oral sex.

I would have him get blood tested IGG type specific to confirm his own status. In either case, like Timin stated above, HSV1 genitally isn't a "huge" issue. It's not as aggressive as HSV2 and doesn't shed as frequently based on the evidence gathered online.
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Avatar universal
assume the swab is accurate.  A positive swab is MUCH more accurate than any blood testing available.  

Yours is probably a recent infection (brought about by receptive oral... don't beat him up too much, he probably didn't know he was shedding) which is why your blood test is negative.

Also - HSV1 in the genitals is very hard to pass from person to person so don't think this infection in any way taints your future sexual prospects.  The first outbreak will be your worst and, from there, the virus is very much a non-factor.
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Avatar universal
Although there are some testing issues for HSV1 (misses about 10% of infections) I imagine this is your first known outbreak and a multiple sore affair enough for you to seek medical attention.

As a result it is very, very likely that you have just been infected by your partner's oral HSV1 infection. This would be confirmed with a positive blood test for you in a few weeks time.
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