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[ellymaye]

I had a pap smear on monday. I had a single bump on my inner labia which itched at first but never was 'painful'. nurse practitioner said it looks like herpes and did a culture on it, but said if that was negative to get a blood test to make sure. I thought that a culture was the best way to get it diagnosed. She said that if the sore was too dry it would test negative. I am having trouble understanding this. If the most shedding is done when there is a visible sore, how could it test negative?

[Lasmom]

because it is inactive - just like if you have an infection, your white blood cell count will be up because they're fighting the infection, your antibodies aren't fighting the virus when an ob is not present. (someone correct me if I'm wrong) But the antibodies will show in a blood test - just not as accurate.