Genital Herpes Diagnosis
If you know that you have had sexual
contact with a person infected with genital herpes, or believe you
may have, it's important to get tested. There are several tests for
genital herpes, so you will need to discuss the best option with your
doctor. A few of the tests you could try are a blood sample, a sample
of the ruptured lesion, or a visual inspection of a sample of the
cells taken from the lesions.
A blood sample is one way of determining
a genital herpes diagnosis that may tell the doctor where you are
carrying the virus, (in the oral or genital area); if you will develop
any symptoms of genital herpes, and if the symptoms you have been
experiencing are causes of genital herpes. The blood test is usually
done if you are not currently having an outbreak, but think you might
have genital herpes.
A sample of the infected area during
an outbreak will tell the doctor if you have genital herpes, and if
so, if you have the herpes simplex virus 1 (oral), or the herpes simplex
virus 2 (genital). The sample is taken with a swab of an open, or
broken lesion. The professionals testing the sample will attempt to
grow the virus on the swab. If the virus doesn't grow, the test result
will be negative, but that doesn't mean that you don't have the virus,
it only means that it didn't grow on the swab. If it's negative, you
may or may not have it, but if it's positive, you most likely do.
They may also try to isolate the herpes simplex 2 DNA from the fluid,
but the results still have the same stipulations.
The visual test is called a Tzanck test.
The cells on the blister fluid will be stained with dye, making any
of the cells infected with the virus be easily detected. The cells
are examined under a microscope, and results will take up to 2 weeks.
The test cannot determine if the infection is type 1 or 2.
Although genital herpes isn't normally
a life-threatening virus (in infants it can be very serious), it is
important to get tested. Genital herpes is something that, once you
get it you will have it for life. It can be quite annoying, and painful
at times. Although it is not curable, it is treatable. With treatment
it may be much more livable, and less annoying. You may be able to
lessen the number of outbreaks, and control them better.
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