| Can herpes be spread from one part of the body to another? It is possible to spread HSV from one part of the body to another by touching first the affected area, then the other part of the body. The eye is sometimes affected in this way, resulting in painful inflammation, and the fingers themselves may develop outbreaks of herpes sores or blisters. If you have an outbreak of genital herpes or cold sores, you should minimise any touching of the affected area, and wash your hands carefully after touching these areas. What is the difference between HSV-1 and HSV-2? Both herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) may be responsible for genital herpes or oral fold sores. It is more common for HSV-2 to affect the genitals and HSV-1 to cause cold sores, but cases of genital HSV-1 are becoming more frequent. HSV-1 may be transmitted from the mouth to the genitals during oral sex. In general, people with HSV-1 infection of the genitals experience fewer outbreaks of symptoms than those with HSV-2 and the outbreaks are often milder. Testing for herpes What tests are available for genital herpes? What do the results mean? Swab tests The most reliable way to prove that you are experiencing an outbreak of genital herpes is to have a swab taken from a blister, sore or other lesion during an outbreak or suspected outbreak. Culture tests are performed on the specimen to attempt to isolate HSV-1 or HSV-2. If these results are positive (in other words, they confirm that HSV-1 or HSV-2 is present) it means that you were experiencing an outbreak of genital herpes at the time the swab was taken. A negative result may mean several things. It may indicate that the symptoms you noticed were not due to genital herpes. It is important to bear in mind that a negative result does not prove that you don't have herpes, though. It just shows that the herpes virus could not be isolated from the swab taken from the sore or lesion. Sometimes a swab gives a negative result even though herpes caused the symptoms. These so-called false negative results may occur if the lesion has been present for more than a few days or the wrong technique was used for taking the swab. The most accurate results are achieved when the swab is taken using firm pressure on a lesion that is less than 3 days old. |
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