Is There a Blood Test for Genital Herpes?

Because HSV is so common and because so many people can be infected and not present any symptoms, and because once symptoms do manifest they can so easily be attributed to other diseases, it is of utmost importance to be educated about adequate testing. The PCR blood test can diagnose for herpes even when symptoms are not present. This tests looks for small pieces of the herpes virus DNA and it is the most common blood test for diagnose genital herpes accurately. Another way to test for a herpes infection is to take a swab of a particular genital lesion and look for the herpes virus under a microscope. It is important to note that both these tests can give false positives if the infection is recent as it takes several weeks for the HSV antibodies to show up in your blood. Although these tests can provide you with a diagnosis they can’t explicitly pinpoint the moment of infection which means you could have had the virus for years without having an outbreak and have been contagious the entire time.

Note: This article is not medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your specific condition.