Shingles or Genital Herpes

[matt94086]

I had an HSV-1 and HSV-2 blood test about two weeks ago and I came back negative for HSV-2 (genital herpes). I had protected sex two weeks prior to my test, so does this mean I should get tested again?

I went to my dermatologist after I had some rather nasty itching on my butt, and when I took a look at it, it resembled some sort of herpes infection -- she confirmed this morning it's shingles (herpes zoster).

Is it possible to confuse shingles with genital herpes?

[medicalmom01]

Shingles is a skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. The virus responsible for these conditions is called the Varicella zoster virus (VZV). After an individual has chickenpox, this virus lives in the nervous system and is never fully cleared from the body. Under certain circumstances, such as emotional stress, immune deficiency (from AIDS or chemotherapy), or with cancer, the virus reactivates causing shingles.

The herpes virus that causes shingles and chickenpox is not the same as the herpes virus that causes genital herpes (which can be sexually transmitted) and herpes mouth sores. Shingles is medically termed Herpes zoster.   Hope this helps..........

[gracefromHHP]

If she did lesion cultures and it came back as zoster and not simplex then it's shingles.

grace