Question:
I'm new here and i have a question. I believe i have genital herpes since i have signs of tingling, rash, and a pimple like growth. I had a blood test taken for the diagnosis of herpes last friday (after 36 days of exposure) while i had a "breakout". It came back negative, but i think it might be a false negative, which i've read can happen if you don't wait 12-16 weeks for the test to be taken. Now, let's assume i have herpes, would the test come out positive or would it still have the possibility of coming out negative?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciative thanks :)

Answer:
I am no expert..this is all very new to me..but from what I understand so far...if it is a recent infection..than the blood test is likely to come back negative...if you've had in your system for a long time and this is your first "outbreak" then the test should come out positive showing that you have antibodies built up in your system...

I'm curious though...if you were having ob..did they not do a swab culture of the sores? I thought they could tell you right away from that....unless you did not have "enough" cells to test or to show up on the culture...


Let us know what you find out.

Answer:
thanks for your reply. from my knowledge, i believe that the obgyn actually used a blood test to see if i had it or not. i didnt know until after my appointment that they could take a test right from the "sore" (my doctor didnt mention it either:mad:)
And i was thinking the same thing too. if i had an outbreak during my testing, certainly there would be anitbodies in my system to try and fight it by now....