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Positive Swab but negative Blood


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Hi All,

 

I found out in April 2017 that I have genital herpes. The doctor did a swab test and it came back positive. Unfortunately, they did not do a type specific test so not sure what type I am. I asked for a blood test to find out the type and the doctor said "Why does it matter? They are treated the same." That blew my mind because after everything I read the type does matter, a lot! It has implications on transmission and how I disclose to people. She was also convinced that it was just going to come back positive and confirm the swab test results. I insisted on the blood test and lo and behold, it came back negative. I thought that this meant that this was an initial outbreak and that my body hasn't had time to build antibodies, but my boyfriend at the time (I was in a monogamous relationship with him for 7 months) got tested and his results were negative too so not sure how it could be an initial outbreak. I just recently got retested (June 2017) and the test was negative again. From everything I have read, is it likely that I have type 1 genital herpes? Should I get my blood retested again in another few months? At the time I had the outbreak I had just started indoor tanning and my theory is that the intense UV rays caused me to have an outbreak and that I have had herpes for while and just have not known it because I have never had symptoms. That's my theory anyways. Also, the doctor does not send me any results, just tells me if I am negative or not. Should I ask for a breakdown of the results? I see people talking about values in other threads. Would it help to know the values of my results?

 

Thanks!

 

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Do you know what type of blood test was done? Mine was IgG and was able to determine the type 1, 2 or both. My first test was just an 8 panel STD test so I was tested for both and got my lab results. My doctor re-tested and didn't share the numbers, just confirmed positive. Maybe get a test elsewhere again in a couple of months? Through a lab where they send you the results.

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You should retest in a few months to confirm it's not hsv2. It's a hard question to ask yourself but given the circumstances it needs to be asked: how certain are you that your boyfriend has stayed monogamous?

 

To be clear, the most likely scenario here is that you have genital hsv1, and it is from a long time ago. So I would trust your boyfriend but still get retested later.

 

Your theory about UV could be correct. Herpes of both types outbreaks more often in the sun. I'm just not sure whether it's because of UV (probably is) or something else. Usually the sun thing doesn't matter since we don't walk around naked but your situation could potentially be a cause. Just another reason to drop that habit!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I agree with @LadyShellisandre,

I got hsv 2 back in dec 2014, one nighter, had sores 2 days after one nighter. I swabbed possitive in jan 2015, . And had negative blood tests, for quite a while, 6 months... is was the 2nd week of june 2015 that i received a positive blood test.

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Yeah it can take upwards of six months for your body to start producing antibodies for a positive blood test. That's why the swab is so important, so people aren't misdiagnosed and it is nice to be able to estimate when the infection took place. I was stealthed and had my first outbreak a week later. When I went to the doctor she said i was either asymptomatic and had it for awhile, in which case the bloods would be positive, or it was a recent infection, which would be a positive swab and negative test. I kind of already knew in my gut what it was though.

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