Question about herpes testing

[Quickquestion23]

Hey Terri,
Back on December 12th of last year I developed red rash in my private area. It was in two separate locations (under my foreskin and in my groin crease between my testicals and pubic area).I also noticed a few red dots on the lower part of my shaft. These seemed to go away overnight. The rash persisted on and off until late January (around the 23rd). I chalked it up to a yeast/bacterial infection, since it responded to anti-fungal cream and completely went away when I went from body wash to bar soap, effectively reducing moister in the area. I spoke with my dermatologist and he stated that it sounded like a fungal/yeast infection. It seems to come up every now and then when I don’t shower after masturbating or use different soap.
In late December (15th through 30th) I had multiple unprotected sexual encounters with a girl who I am now questioning her status (I developed genital warts in late February/early March). I did not notice any “obvious” herpes symptoms after these encounters. I only had a reoccurrence of the rash.
I did a full std panel 31 days after this encounter (46 days after the onset of the rash), as well as a HIV-RNA test in early February. All came back negative
Last Saturday night I noticed a pin sized red bump on my foreskin. It is no bigger than 1 millimeter in diameter. It is not sore and I cannot tell if it is liquid filled or not. I tried to "pop" it but was unable to. There is also another red bump maybe 1 inch roughly away, same situation. Dr Hook stated to me that this was not herpes, as well I figured since they have not changed in 5 plus days that they are not herpes.

1.Can I be certain that the rash I developed on December 12th was not due to herpes with a negative blood test 46 days after symptoms?
2.It is now 13+ weeks after my last exposure, would testing now with herpes select give me definitive results? Or should I wait until 16+ weeks?
3.Would you even recommend that I get another herpes test at all?

Thanks

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Yes, I believe you can rest easy now about the herpes issue, yes.

Terri

[Quickquestion23]

Hey Terri,

First off I wanted to thank you for answering my questions.

I ended up testing yesterday, which was 14+ weeks after my last exposure and 16+ weeks since the rash. The results were negative for both HSV1+2.

I did have a bump develop in my pubic hair region, I'm pretty sure it's folliculitis. It developed Saturday night after I played tennis/pickle ball (I'd be really surprise if you know what that sport is!) i first pulled a tiny hair out of it and I squeezed it a fair amount and scrapped the skin on top of it too which I think may have irritated it more. Anyways it did not blister in 3+ days and stayed a pretty firm bump so I'm going to assume it's not herpes.

I think that I am going to stop testing at this point. I figured that 14+ weeks  is probably between 90-95% accurate and I never really had any "typical" herpes issues (I did have the rash which showed up 16 weeks ago, giving me a definitive answer with this negative test)

Do you agree?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

You can't be certain that you don't have herpes with a test done 46 days later, but you can be 70% certain that a test taken at the time is correct, so that's very good news, right?  Also, your bumps don't sound like typical herpes to me that is described by patients.  

You are clearly still worrying, despite the 70% accuracy.  So yes, I would recommend that you retest.  You could test at 13 weeks and get more accuracy, maybe 85-90%, but a test at four months would be a bit more definitive.  Whatever you do, don't take any herpes medicine as that can throw off the test results.  

I would actually agree with your initial assessment that you have n intermittent fungal infection in the groin and genital area, far more likely, given your description, your response to treat, your so far negative herpes test and the duration of the rash after treatment.  I think you have reason to be reassured!

Terri