Question:
I have placenta previa, so my boyfriend and I have not been able to have sex, nor have we had intercourse or has he even touched my vagina in the past two and a half months.

I have never had any symptoms of genital herpes, and neither has he. Well, this past Monday I started to itch down there, then the next day I felt a lump (NOT CLUSTERS OF BLISTERS, THOUGH) and the OB saw me two days later, put a needle in it, withdrew stuff then tested and told me it was positive. At the time of the test, he said it was unlikely herpes because it usually shows within 2-4 wks of initial contact (true that that's the overwhelming norm?) and probably a clogged hair follicle. I even had a short hair come off when I wiped after going to the bathroom. (???) I was crying to the nurse because she just told me I have a chronic disease. They said I could have gotten it from my current bf, him being asymptomatic, or from as far back as endless number of years.

This is my question: Can a culture that's withdrawn directly from the lump show a FALSE POSITIVE? Could they have mixed it up with another person's lab? Am I more likely to have gotten it from my current bf or ten years ago? I am confused and in complete disbelief. I am crying all the time, and scared of breaking out when the baby is born in Oct.

ANY HELP I WOULD SO APPRECIATE! THANK YOU!

Answer:
It's very rare for cultures taken from a fresh lesion to be a false positive... I mean, true, there can be lab errors... but truly it's usually the other way around... that the cultures come up negative when it's really H.

It might now just be showing up in your body cause of being pregnant.. possibly stress over worrying about your placenta previa or even just hormones.

With H, read some of the forums, and you will find it's really hard to say how long you've had it, or who you picked it up from. Your current BF should get tested (cause for when the time comes that you can resume having sex again you guys should know if he is positive or not), and if he is positive it certainly would make sense that you picked it up from him asymptomatically, but you can't rule out farther in the past...

The good news is that this is not your first encounter with H (which you know since you haven't had sex in 2.5 months) so the risk of problems to your baby is extremely small. It's much much worse to catch it for the first time while pregnant than have a subsequent outbreak while pregnant (and remember, your baby even gets some of the antibodies you make to help protect him/her). You can even deliver your baby vaginally as long as you don't have an outbreak at the time of delivery, and if there is worry about that, sometimes docs will put you on an antiviral at 36 weeks. With the placenta previa I am sure you will be monitored pretty closely anyway, so H really is a minor concern compared to that. Think about it... the worst possible outcome of an H outbreak is that you might have to have a C-section... which for a lot of women is sad, but you can still have a normal, healthy baby, which is what matters in the long run.

Take good care of yourself!!! And try not to stress - which is easier said than done... but it's important for you and your baby. The fact that you have probably had H for a while means that overall you have been fighting it well, so you probably have a naturally good immune system, and the pregnancy and such is throwing things off balance for you...

hope that helps some...