I posted before, but now have new, related questions.
My lady friend was diagnosed as having Herpes via a swab test. I'd like to know whether I have it. If I do, I'd like to know whether I got it from her or she gave it to me. Both situations are unlikely, but it had to come from somewhere.
I said this on my post and was advised to get a blood test, which I'm doing. I should have the results shortly. By the way, I think of having Herpes as either having symptoms, or being capable of infecting someone else, or both. By the way, I have no symptoms.
When I asked for the blood test, my doctor told me the test was unlikely to be conclusive. He said, 50% of adults come up positive for the antibodies and having antibodies is not the same as having herpes. I assume he meant that many showing positive would not be in danger of an outbreak or infecting anyone else. By the way, after speaking with him, I saw the 50% figure for adults having antibodies on WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/genital-herpes/herpes-tests) --see para "Anti Body Tests". I've seen a 20% figure on this site for, I believe, the number of adults infected with herpes.
Perhaps you can comment on the 50% and the 20% figures--i.e., do you agree with them ? Do they represent different things (antibody presence vs. infections) ? I recognize antibodies arise because there's been contact with the virus, but does does antibody presence necessarily mean the virus presence has risen to the level of an "infection" ? Aren't antibodies sometimes successful in killing off the virus ?
This is all pretty confusing to me. Please help with these questions if you can.
Thanks,
G