Herpes
Herpes......?
If you have oral herpes and get tested for genital herpes through a blood test, will it show up at positive? Like, if you're tested for antibodies... is there a diff between the ones for genital herpes and oral? Thanks a ton.
Public Comments
- there is a difference. oral herpes wont turn up when screened for genetal
- yes, of course
- Have you heard of protection? If you get genital herpes you have them for life. There is a difference makes you think before having oral sex doesn't it?
- no, oral herpes and genital herpes are two different tests. and contrary to popular belief, you can have an oral herpes outbreak on your genitals (oral sex when the partner giving has a 'cold sore' on his lip and then transfers the spores to the skin around the genital area.)
- Actually yes, when you get a herpes blood test it WILL show up if you have an oral herpes infection, because you will have antibodies in your blood. Genital herpes and oral herpes are not different per se - although there are two viruses, hsv-1 and hsv-2, either can infect the mouth or the genitals. But hsv-1 does cause most oral herpes, while genital herpes is an even split between the two. They can tell you which virus you have, but cannot tell you for sure where the infection is. However, since 95% of oral herpes is caused by the virus hsv-1, if you tested positive for hsv-1 they would generally assume it was an oral infection, although in the absence of symptoms it is impossible to tell for sure. If you tested positive for hsv-2, it would generally be assumed it was a genital infection, although there is also a small chance it could be an oral infection. Again, they can't tell for sure without genital or oral symptoms, just tell you the probabilities. If you have oral herpes, you would likely test positive for hsv-1 though. But hsv-1 can also be genital - I have genital herpes hsv-1 (half genital herpes infections are caused by hsv-1). Your test and mine would look the same. But because you have had oral symptoms that would indicate an oral infection.
