I recently went to a doctor with a rash on my hip, pelvis, and back, all on my right side. Right when she looked at it, she told me that it was clearly shingles, but she took a swab of it and sent it into the lab (for a viral culture, I think?) to make sure. I received a call from the doctor four days later saying that my rash was from HSV-2, genital herpes. This is extremely bizarre to me because I've never had sexual contact with anyone. The most I've ever done sexually is kiss someone, so these results don't seem correct. Everything about this rash I have implies shingles except for the viral culture claiming that I have HSV-2. I had mono earlier in the summer, which would easily trigger the chicken pox virus I had lying dormant in my system since I was 6 months old. Would a combination of shingles and mono create a false positive for HSV-2 on a viral culture?