#COMPANY OF HEROES 3 IGG HOW TO#

And the mental gymnastics about how to manage the test results are just too complex (see above). There is no evidence that testing changes sexual behavior (see above). If that’s the case, will you have a sexually chaste relationship, even abstaining from kissing, for 6 months to be rested to see if you are still negative? What if you are just positive for herpes 1, because that doesn’t rule out genital herpes? If you are positive for herpes 2 and have never had a genital outbreak, it is possible that the herpes 2 you have is an oral infection and not genital.Ĩ) The CDC does NOT recommend routine blood testing for herpes. Will you only date people who are negative for both herpes 1 and 2? (remember, herpes type 1 can cause genital infections). If you only test positive for type 2, that could have been an oral infection.Ħ) How will the test change your behavior? Will it make you be more careful sexually? Well, you should be more careful anyway.

Recurrent sores on the mouth are more likely to be type 1 and recurrent sores on the genitals are more likely to be type 2, but that’s more likely not always. You could be carrying herpes type 1 in the mouth, the genitals, or in both places. Basically, if you test positive for herpes type 1 and negative for 2 that does not mean you don’t have genital herpes. This is very important, because 50% of new genital lesions are due to herpes type. This is innocent exposure from sharing slobbery toys in daycare or kisses from someone who is shedding the virus but has no active cold sore.ĥ) A positive IgG also doesn’t tell you where you have the virus. A positive herpes IgG test only tells you that at some point in time you acquired the herpes virus (1 or 2 or both depending on your results). Often people are exposed to the virus but don’t have their first outbreak for months or even years later. IgM tests for herpes are highly unreliable for the diagnosis of herpes virus infections and should never be ordered (the FDA doesn’t prevent companies from offering bad tests, just doesn’t approve them).Ĥ) A positive IgG to herpes does not tell you when you acquired the infection, just that at some point you did. If your provider offers an IgM test, get up and leave because they do not know anything about herpes or testing. IgM antibodies are produced very soon after an infection. Some less than scrupulous labs and providers might tell you to get an IgM test. You may have to ask your health provider to check, because they might not know.Ģ) Blood tests take 3-6 months to turn positive after exposure because it takes 3-6 months for your body to make IgG antibodies in response to an infection.ģ) There is no blood test that can tell you immediate exposure/recent infection. If it’s not one of these tests, don’t get it. The American Social Health Association has a great guide to the brand names of the reliable tests. This is the gold standard, but only performed at the University of Washington. The University of Washington (the mecca of herpes research) also offers a Western Blot test for herpes antibodies. It is unfortunately not illegal to offer a useless test and some providers just don’t know the difference and may just tick off the first box for “herpes” that they see. There are labs that will run tests that are not type specific, but these are essentially useless.

This test can reliably distinguish between herpes 1 and herpes 2 antibodies. What you need to know about blood testing before you have it:ġ) There is only one reliable and commercially available type of blood test for herpes antibodies called a Type Specific IgG. Now keep in mind that most people with herpes are unaware they have been infected because most people don’t get recurrent cold sores on their lips or genitals, most people have a silent infection and simply periodically shed the virus. The immune system produces antibodies in response to an infection, and so the presence of antibodies means that at some point there was an infection somewhere with herpes. Blood testing means looking for antibodies. One big area of misunderstanding is blood testing and herpes infections.

I know people want more information, because I posted a piece in 2011 on the difference between type 1 and type 2 last year and it has over 48,000 hits and counting. When I lecture at a medical conferences about herpes I hear, “I didn’t know that,” all the time. There is a lot of misinformation about herpes, both among health providers and the general public.

Company of heroes 3 igg