Studies showing an association between genital herpes and risk of HIV acquisition suggest another patient population that may benefit from diagnosing unrecognised genital HSV infection. Third trimester genital infections with HSV-1 or HSV-2 in the seronegative mother or HSV-2 in the HSV-1 seropositive mother pose a considerable risk of peripartum transmission to the infant. A more controversial use of serology is for screening women and their partners to identify those women at risk of acquiring genital HSV-1 or HSV-2 late in pregnancy. Identifying unrecognised HSV-2 seropositive women allows directed follow up for indications of herpes shedding in the genital tract at labour and delivery. 7, 12 In most neonatal herpes cases the mother has no history of herpes. However, recipients of other vaccine formulations containing gG should be advised that a positive gG based type specific serology will not be useful in diagnosing HSV should they become infected.Īccurate type specific serology can also characterise the nature of risk that a pregnant woman has for exposing a neonate to genital HSV shedding at term. Tests based on glycoprotein G may also be essential to distinguish antibody responses to HSV infections from those to subunit vaccines containing other, unrelated HSV glycoproteins. Conversely, these tests can be useful in ruling out genital herpes in uninfected patients who have symptoms suggestive of herpes. 9, 10 Accurate serology is the only practical way to identify HSV-2 infected people with otherwise unrecognised genital herpes. Such tests can supplement culture or antigen detection methods to diagnose patients with lesions. HSV type specific antibody testing may be considered in a variety of clinical settings (table 1). Many feel the commercial availability of these tests is a significant advance for patient care and for public health efforts to control the spread of genital herpes. 1, 2 These new tests can legitimately claim to discriminate antibodies to HSV-1 from those to HSV-2. With the new millennium, type specific herpes simplex virus (HSV) antibody tests based on the type specific proteins, gG-1 and gG-2, are now on the market for clinicians who wish to use them and for patients who desire to be tested. Which means you can be told you have Genital Herpes when, in fact, you don’t.Applications of HSV type specific testing This often very easily provides a false-positive result. The problem with most standard tests for Herpes, like the ELISA test is, the inability to distinguish between HSV-1 and HSV-2. There are a variety of ways to get tested for Herpes such as Viral Culture and certain blood tests. How do I get tested for Genital Herpes or HSV-2? For both types of infections, HSV-1 ( Common Cold Sores) and HSV-2, at least two-thirds of infected individuals have NO SYMPTOMS, or symptoms too mild to notice. About 40 million adult Americans have HSV-2 most NOT knowing they have it. Herpes “sores” cause recurrent painful genital sores in many adults, frequently causing psychological distress in people who know they are infected. An outbreak of sores usually occurs within 2 weeks after the virus is transmitted, and typically heals in 2 to 4 weeks. Caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 or HSV-2, this infection occurs during sexual contact with someone who has genital HSV-2 infection. Genital Herpes is a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), usually common to people from the ages 12 and older.
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