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An Overview of Herpes Blood Tests

The standard testing procedure for herpes is to obtain a viral culture of a sore (lesion) within the first 48 hours after symptoms appear. Beyond 48 hours, there is a risk of the culture yielding a "false negative" result because the sore may have begun healing and there may not be live virus present. Blood tests can be used to confirm a negative viral culture result or to help determine herpes infection in a person with no visible symptoms.

There are currently two blood tests approved by US FDA that accurately determine if a person is infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2: the HerpeSelect ELISA Kits and the HerpeSelect Immunoblot Kit.

Another blood test is the Western Blot. Although not 100 percent accurate, the Western Blot is considered the "gold standard" of blood tests and is used to determine the accuracy of other herpes blood tests that are developed.

Many older, FDA-cleared blood tests for herpes are still on the market, and many labs use these tests because they are widely available and inexpensive. Although they may be labeled type-specific (they can determine whether the infection is HSV-1 or HSV-2), they are not reliable.

It is difficult for people to make sure they are getting one of the newer, accurate tests. Doctors and even lab workers may not know what test they're using. You need to ask, but it's a very tall order.

As for our DSC doctors, if they don't see the symptom right away, they may not use the right blood test. Therefore, sometime the WL may slip through even though if they are infected.

When a person is infected with genital herpes, symptoms do not begin right away. It usually takes two weeks after becoming infected to begin developing signs and symptoms (known as a herpes outbreak), although this incubation period can be as short as one day or as long as a month. However, not everyone infected with herpes has early symptoms. In fact, it is common for people to have no symptoms with the initial infection -- but they can still spread herpes!