Diagnosed With HSV1 On Genitals And Had Painful Sores. What Is The Treatment?

Posted on Wed, 11 Dec 2013

Question: hello, i was recently diagnosed with HSV1 on my genitals.. i had 3 small lesions the my Dr tested with a swab. he also did a blood test. the blood test came back negative, the swab came back positive for HSV1.. I have 2 questions regarding this. 1) the lesions i had did not have any of the characteristics i have researched of herpes ( blister or scabbing)... they were just painful sores that went away after about a week and a half. is this a common type of outbreak? 2) since the blood work came back negative does this mean i recently contracted the virus ( trying to determine if its from my current partner).. thank you.

Answered by Dr. Rhea Chanda (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: mild outbreak Detailed Answer: Hello HSV 1 is usually caused by oral transmission . Genital herpes can be caused by hsv 1 though oral herpes is more common . To answer your question you may have had a a mild outbreak hence leaving painful sores. Not typically blisters . First outbreaks may be mild and sometimes the person doesn't even have any symptoms . However if the swab is positive then the blood test should be positive . Only if the viral load is very low the test may show negative . Usually DNA PCR test is most accurate . It takes several days for the result . Presence of antibodies in the blood test will indicate if this is a recent infection or not.

Note: Consult a Sexual Diseases Specialist online for further follow up- Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar