Herpes is one serious disease that should be given importance
, not only does it affect the physical health but also the mental and emotional aspect of a person's life. We all know that herpes is a viral disease caused by the herpes simplex virus. There are many types of the herpes virus but commonly cold sores and genital herpes are two of the most common categories.
If you manifest signs and symptoms of herpes then it will be a good idea to have yourself tested, but how to test for herpes? There are several tests which you can go through in order to confirm whether you have herpes or none; this is to help you manage as early as possible the effects of such disease.
You can either have a viral test, blood tests and antigen tests. If you want to be diagnosed whether you have herpes or none then these are the tests you need to undergo. Although you can have a virus culture tests if your blisters and sores are still fresh. Blood tests are usually conducted if there are no signs or symptoms present but you just want to see if you are infested or not.
Laboratory tests are divided into two. They are sensitivity and specificity. If a patient has an existing and obvious sign of herpes then a viral culture is conducted. It aims to look for the presence of the virus in the sample taken. It is very specific and can determine whether the virus is cause by HSV-1 or HSV-2. Blood test on the other hand determines the presence of antibodies which proves that it is fighting an infection while antigen tests are there to detect the actual in infection just like that of a viral culture.
Those were some of the available methods on how to test for herpes. They are made available to help in determining the presence of herpes, to prevent the spreading of the virus and to cure the herpes.