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Genital Herpes Testing
What are you waiting for? This page can
be your own personal cliff notes and cheat sheet to
proper herpes testing! Pick up your telephone and start asking questions
today!
There are four highly accurate type specific
antibody tests currently available: biokit HSV-2 Rapid Test,
HerpeSelect, CAPITA HSV IgG Type Specific ELISAs and the Herpes Specific
Western Blot which is primarily used for herpes research purposes.
The
next time somebody tells you that they have been tested you might want
to think twice about that because herpes is NOT included in the routine
STD testing process! When you love somebody it's ok to make a date to go
and get tested together. It's not a bad idea to know what you are
dealing with from both sides of the relationship.
Sometimes I think that
people that have herpes forget that their health is still just as
important as their partner's health. If you are bold enough to get nude
then you can be bold and brave enough to talk about STD's BEFORE you
have sex, right?
City's Newest STD
Resource offers Online STD Testing
Biokit HSV-2 Rapid Test
Manufactured by
biokit USA
Also available from
Fisher HealthCare as Sure-Vue HSV-2 Rapid Test
FDA-approved for
commercial use in 1999
Detect antibodies to
HSV-2 only (will not identify HSV-1)
Blood collected by a
finger-prick or from a vein
Results available in
10 minutes or less
Formerly
manufactured by Diagnology under the name POCkit
For more information
please visit:
biokit.com
(800) 926-3353 and
fishersci.com (800) 766-7000
CAPTIA HSV IgG
Type Specific ELISAs
Manufactured by
Trinity Biotech
FDA approved for
commercial use in 2004
Can detect HSV-1
and HSV-2 antibodies
Blood is drawn and
sent to laboratory for processing
Results take 1 to 2
weeks
For more information
please visit:
trinitybiotech.com (800) 325-3424
HerpeSelect
(ELISA and Immunoblot Kits)
Manufactured by
Focus Diagnostics, Inc.
FDA approved for
commercial use in 2000
Two antibody
detection methods available (immunoblot or ELISA)
Can detect HSV-1 and
HSV-2 antibodies
Blood drawn and sent
to laboratory for processing
Results take 1 to 2
weeks
For more information
please visit:
herpeselect.com (800) 445-4032
The Herpes Specific
Western Blot test is a blood test that is used for herpes research at
the University of Washington in Washington State.
However, it is
possible to have a Herpes Specific Western Blot test done in order to
find out if you have type-1, type-2, both or nothing at all. Your health
care provider can make arrangements with the lab at the University of
Washington to have this test done for you.
Reference Test:
Western blot. To get a Western blot directly from the UW laboratory,
have your provider call the 800-713-5198.
The
UW laboratory
personnel will send out special forms and a special mailing tube. The
forms must be completed including billing information. When this
material arrives in the healthcare provider's office, have your blood
drawn and processed so that the serum can be sent to Seale. It can be
mailed in a special pack. Once the serum arrives in the laboratory,
Western blot takes about 4-5 days. About 1 in 5 samples requires further
testing, which requires an additional 5-7 days. The test results must go
to a healthcare provider. The results will be mailed or faxed back to
your provider. When it comes to deciphering your test results THAT is
who you should be talking to.
The antiviral
medication valacyclovir, when taken suppressively, has been shown to
reduce the risk of transmission.
In a 2004 study among persons with a
history of recurrent genital herpes, taking valacyclovir daily reduced
the risk of transmission to a partner by 50%. Accordingly, the FDA has
now approved valacyclovir for this indication.
Questions that
may have led you to this page:
How can I get an
accurate herpes blood test?
What is herpes?
How do you get
herpes infections?
How is herpes
transmitted to others?
What treatments are
available for herpes?
What about herpes
and pregnancy?
Do NOT go for HSV IgM Testing
- This was written up by another healthcare provider that had much to
say about why you shouldn't have HSV IGM testing done.
Let's talk about Herpes Testing!
-
Don't forget to vote!
I hope that you find this page helpful.
Whatever you do talk to YOUR healthcare provider if you would like to
have these tests done. The more providers that know about these tests
the beer chances we have of spreading the word on getting herpes to be
included in routine std testing. Based on my own personal experiences I
would like to suggest that you discuss YOUR test results with YOUR
healthcare provider. It's not a really swift idea to have these tests
done and then repost the result findings to be re-deciphered by a
professional healthcare personality. DO discuss your results with YOUR
doctor and don't be afraid to ask questions. If you get home OR hang up
the phone to find out that you forgot to ask them a question then write
it down and call them back. If you are dealing directly with a
laboratory then call THEM back and find out who you can discuss your
test results with over the phone OR in person. Contrary to popular
beliefs out there these tests are NOT perfect. Keep that in mind when
you are trying to find out what's going on.
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