HSV Blood Tests

[Cain]

I know that the current way of testing for HSV is to detect the antibodies in the blood. It seems that I remember someone mentioning that there was another test in the works that could possibly detect the actual virus itself. Does anyone know anything about this?

Cain

[Redford]

As far as I know, the only way to test for the virus itself is to take a culture from an unbroken blister. Aparrently it comes back negative alot of the time, so the antibody test is better. The good thing about the antibody test is that it can be distinguished between HSV 1 or 2, giving you a better idea of the possible number of outbreaks.

[newtothis]

I believe there is a "cold aggluten" test in which the test your blood with someone elses blood who is not infected (in a lab environment), and see if thier blood is then afffected by the virus. I don't believe it is paid for by insurance companies though

[Blondie]

my doc said that culturing was the only way to go. mainly because they cannot distinguish between the 2 types through a blood test.

[Redford]

This link may help you find a type-specific test. According to this there are a few companies that now manufacture them. Good luck

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/52/49873.htm?z=1814_00000_0014_rl_02&X=1

I just did a search on it on www.metacrawler.com and found several sites that offer type-specific testing options.

[Cain]

Thanks a lot for your replies! I'll check these out and let you know what happens!

Cain