Question:
Here in great Britain i have been advised by both the herpes association and numerous health care professionals to not mention to any prospective partner that i have HSV 1/2 .

I was flabbergasted by this. One GU nurse said to me that shedding was as likely as her skydiving in her underwear !

They have told me why would i want to open that particular can of worms.... that its only a skin complaint and that it is only a big deal because of the way society views sex.

I am really confused by all this.... by the way i am a nurse myself albeit in a different speciality and when i hit back with a few statistics/facts they sent me straight to the consultant. The nurse i initially dealt with was adamant that you could not be tested via blood samples for HSV !.

The consultant begrudgingly agreed to give me a blood test.

I await my results.... i really feel quite passionate about some of the inaccuracies in information that i have received so far and regardless of my results i am thinking about making a career move.

What have others been advised ?

Answer:
well.... since I don't know anyone that would look at an infected penis and have sex with it... my assumption is that most of us got it from someone who was showing no signs of an outbreak...

so my thought would be that you should tell your partners...

Answer:
wow. This just floors me. But doesn't surprise me. Further proof to me that there are so many people in the medical field who are clueless.

I would say kudos to you for sticking to your guns and insisting on your bloodwork to include hsv. And if it does turn out you have it then I would suggest to be honest with people you are intimate with. It is only fair.

Answer:
dang that is pretty scarey.........I suposse they tell all the herpes paitents this same thing what if some actualy listen to them ugh.Hopefully they will get better informed very shortly.

Answer:
I find it rather ironic that the British& Aussie laboratories have been most persistent in research and development of herpes 2 vaccines...much more so than US Pharmaceutical companies... and God bless them for it...yet clinicians in the UK demonstrate a laisser-faire attitude about a contagious STD that has reached pandemic proportions..DUH! :roll: Medical professionals telling patients not to inform partners or not to practice safer sex is medical negligence. On the other hand... we could use a little European nonchalance here in the States (and for our friends in the Great White North dere). I WISH PEOPLE WOULD LIGHTEN UP about "the herpes". It's a cold sore.... yeah but...it's.. EWWW...DOWN THERE :shock: .Okay.. sure, who in the hell wants itchy sores on their genitals? :oops: and nothing kills the mood like looking down at your lover's genital rash. :shock: But seriously..herpes is not a totally benign condition either..we all know that. We have to be careful when we are pregnant and having babies right girls? We don't want to spread it else where on our bodies such as our beautiful faces and eyes (yes I know you are all beautiful). (((((hugs)))))

Answer:
I have found the lack of education the medical profession exhibits on this topic quite shocking. They seem not to be doing their reading on the topic, and the medical establishment (e.g., American Medical Association) in the United States seems to be doing nothing to update them. Examples:

1) When I had asked for an STD battery in the past, they did not do a herpes test. I would notice this omission later in my records.

2) When I recently asked specifically for the test just for screening purposes, the nurse said she didn't want to test me for it because I had no symptoms. I asked why not. She said, "Because people get really upset when they find out they have herpes." This didn't seem like a logical or valid reason to not be tested. So I got the test done and found out later I had asymptomatic HSV2 and had exposed my boyfriend (don't know yet if he has it).

3) I went to a new doctor recently, who ordered some blood tests for an unrelated matter. While the nurse was drawing my blood, I remembered that I wanted to have the HSV test done again, to verify the previous HSV2 positive result. She went to check with the doc, who told her to tell me, "I don't advise getting that. Come back in September [5 months later!!] for your yearly physical and we'll discuss it." I made him come back into the exam room and talk to me. I told him I already knew I had it and wouldn?t "freak out" on him when the test came back positive. So I got the test (and the unfortunate confirmation of HSV2). He said, "Well, you have a lot of antibodies for HSV2, so you *might* have herpes." "Might", he said!!

4) I went to a dermatologist for an unrelated matter. While there, I asked her if the pimple on my butt was herpes. She said, "It's unspecific; I don't know. Why do you ask?" I said because I knew I had it. She asked how. I said I had had the blood test. She asked why, if I had no symptoms, that usually doctors only test people if they have symptoms. No wonder it's spreading like wildfire!

5) A friend of mine, who I told recently about my status, said that he had tried to get a herpes test for screening purposes 5 years ago, but the doctor declined, saying "If you have herpes, you'll know it!!"

Health practioners need to get with the program on this topic!!