STD Testing

Herpes Blood Tests

Many doctors and health care professionals are not up-to-date about herpes diagnosis, and will tell you that the only way to accurately diagnosis whether or not you have the genital herpes virus is by taking a culture from an active herpes outbreak and sending it to the lab. These doctors *used to* be right. Until recently, there were no reliable herpes blood tests that could distinguish accurately between HSV-1 and HSV-2. And doctors and labs are still using some of the old, inaccurate blood tests. But research has made great strides, and since 1999, there are NEW IgG blood tests now available that DO distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2 and are 97-100% ACCURATE, if taken no earlier than 12-16 weeks after your exposure to the virus.

Remember - you must WAIT AT LEAST 12-16 WEEKS after you were exposed to herpes, in order to give the virus antibodies enough time to develop in your blood stream. Otherwise the tests may not be accurate.

If you do not have health insurance, you can sometimes get a type-specific herpes blood test done at local public health clinics funded by your city, county or state. Check your local listings for the public health clinic near you. Unfortunately, not all public health clinics do type-specific herpes blood tests, so you might want to call first before making the trip.

Most of these services use the HerpeSelect tests from Focus Diagnostics. The Herpes Only test panel (using the IgG HerpeSelect test listed below) costs $98-$119. This fee includes the laboratory testing, preparation of the order, physician supervision of ordering and interpretation of the results, pre-test counseling, post-test counseling, and any confirmatory testing that may be required. You enter your zip code and it will tell you all the local labs near you, which will do the tests. You must sign up for the tests online and your credit card will be charged before you go to the lab.

These companies also offer tests for other STD's, which you may or may not want to take. Your results are confidential and are not part of your regular medical records.  Signs Of Herpes

If there is a visible symptom present, a viral culture is recommended. However, if there are no visible symptoms, a type-specific blood test for herpes may be performed. You can order STD blood tests from a reliable blood testing source here.