Hi

It’s difficult to say if you do have genital herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1.

The blood test will show a positive result if HSV-1 is anywhere on your body, so if you have cold sores this would make the HSV-1 test show a positive result.

The best test you can do is to get a HSV swab from the sore as this will tell you if it is herpes and what type it is.

The other thing we find with HSV is once you have had one type of HSV and you have had time for antibodies to build in your body (3-4months). That it is unlikely to get the same type of HSV on a different part of your body. For example you had cold sores years ago which is typically HSV-1, this means it is unlikely you would have a new HSV-1 infection on the genitals as you would have developed antibodies years ago.

If you develop symptoms again I would just recommend going back to your doctor for an exam and ask them if they will do a HSV swab test if there is a sore. You could also repeat the blood test in 4 months. If this is a new HSV type 2 infection it would show up on a blood test by then.

Have a look at our HSV page for more information on HSV.
 

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

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