Reply To: Is this HSV2 primary infection?

[Oas59]

Hi Terri, I did have the bump swabbed the day after my last question, just over a week after it appeared. It was still a red bump with a small, flat scab. I asked the doctor to rub or scuff it since it was dry. He also took blood for the LabCorp Herpes select test, which I told him probably wasn’t useful at that time. He laughed and said I was telling him how to do his job, after I’d apologized and told him why I have some prior knowledge. He isn’t my regular GP, is very young and I don’t think has much experience in this realm. My results are:

PCR swab: No DNA detected for HSV1 or HSV2

Herpes select: HSV1 46.50
HSV 1 and 2 IgM screen: negative both
HSV 2 specific antibodies <.90

This result I expected. Do you have any opinion, especially on the swab test? Perhaps no sample was collected? I realize it may be weeks before I can really put this to rest with further testing.

Just as an aside, do you think there will ever be a cure, an effective vaccine, or even a home test that could tell when a person is shedding virus? Thank you for all you do. There seems to be very few people out there with extensive, even basic knowledge on this subject…nothing that approaches your experience.