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Do I have it or not? testing question 20 years later
In 1998 I had vag issues and went to the gyno. She said I likely had herpes. I think she tested me but I don't remember how. She told me I was positive for hsv-1. I have never since had those type of issues, never spread it, nothing. My boyfriend said he was tested and was negative plus swears he never had an issue. Just last week I had a blood test for it and both came back negative. It's been 20+ years thinking I have it. The question is do I or do I not? Did I ever have it or was it something else?
COMMUNITY LEADER
You might have it. Your hsv1 blood test could have missed it - the IgG herpes blood test misses 30% of infections.
Were you diagnosed with a culture 20 years ago? If you were, you can count on that being reliable. A culture is far more reliable than a blood test. Ghsv1 rarely sheds - by now, you are probably shedding about 4 days a year - and many people only get 1 initial outbreak of it.
If you don't have an outbreak, it's virtually non-transmittable.
Were you diagnosed with a culture 20 years ago? If you were, you can count on that being reliable. A culture is far more reliable than a blood test. Ghsv1 rarely sheds - by now, you are probably shedding about 4 days a year - and many people only get 1 initial outbreak of it.
If you don't have an outbreak, it's virtually non-transmittable.
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
