Hey there. I'm a doctor and I have this conversation with folks regularly. Just to clarify, the previous poster is almost completely correct. There is a culture test you can do on a NEW open herpes lesion-- it's sensitive, but if the lesion is oldish, it may test positive. Herpes is essentially a clinical diagnosis, but many people have such low level outbreaks they don't know they're having them. The blood test DOES differentiate HSV-1 (usually but not always oral) and HSV-2 (usually genital) and there is no crossover with VZV (chickenpox) or any other herpes virus. Problem is, if you're positive for HSV-1 (most people are...) you don't know for certain if this is an oral infection or genital, unless you get oral lesions, and then you can assume and will probably be correct.

Sorry, I mean "if the lesion is oldish it may NOT test postive."

Blood titers can determine whether a person has been exposed to a virus. Yes they are available and FDA approved to diagnose herpes simplex. The preferred method of diagnosis with cell scrapings from a herpetic lesion but, of course, there must be a lesion present to take the sample from.

"The Herpes Resource Center (HRC) does not

recommend standard, widely available blood tests because they have been shown in research to be inaccurate and unreliable. The potential for false positives can cause unnecessary worry or concern for many people. does not recommend standard, widely available blood tests because they have been shown in research to be inaccurate and unreliable. The potential for false positives can cause unnecessary worry or concern for many people."

I ask my physician to test me for STDs every year when I have my Pap smear. My GYN doesn't routinely screen for STDs in the absence of symptoms. One trick here is a lot of insurance companies won't cover STD screening if there aren't symptoms present. Off the record my doctor told me that the mention of nonspecific "itching", "irritation" or "discharge" will suffice as justification for the tests. And you don't even have to lie because don't we ALL have itching on occasion?

People can carry the herpes virus and never have an outbreak. The medical community doesn't recommend routine use of the blood screens.

If you're going to be sexually active you owe it to yourself and your partner(s)to use condoms, to at least annually ask your doctor for an SDT screening including HIV. Most STDs can be cured with a round of antibiotics but if you wait too long an untreated infection such as gonorrhea or chlamydia can cause scarring with resultant infertility.

People with STDs are not unclean or sluts or whores. Anyone who has had sex even one time can have an STD. The bottom line is if you are sexually active you MUST be honest with yourself and your doctor and get tested regularly. If your doctor makes you feel ashamed or embarassed, get a new doctor.

at these letters. STD. if you have one, you let the partner know beforehand. always, totally, nothing about your own personal precautions. if partner is too ignorant to ask or afraid to ask if you have an STD, then ball is in your court to inform.

YOU DO NOT HAVE A DIVINE RIGHT TO SEX AND TO RISK SPREADING DISEASE! SEX INVOLVES OTHER PEOPLE!!!! IF YOU HAVE A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE, YOU NEED TO INFORM POTENTIAL PARTNER!!!!

YOU do not determine what the other person's risk is!

And especially those reading Salon this weekend.

I quote:

"Chances are they have it too if they indulge in casual sex. If not, there are plenty of infected potential partners out there. Just move on..."

My favorite:

"Those of you who don't tell are low-life bastards - I hope the person you didn't have the balls and character to tell, the person you infect, I hope they beat the shit out of you. I hope the next person you fuck and don't bother to tell has an even worse disease to give you - and they didn't tell you either before you fucked."

Wow. Those of you who are shocked that people like me don't tell? I'm just as shocked that some of you have stigmatized us, as faceless strangers, and banished us to the likened ranks of child molesters and genocide perpetrators.

Why don't I tell? I will tell you why I don't tell. I had one outbreak, three years ago. I take suppressives, every day (acyclovir), and a higher dose when I know I'm going to have sex. None of my partners are "casual," in the fact that I've had sex with the same partner, over and over again, before moving on to the next partner. Meaning I am generally monogamous with one partner, when I am having sex. I have HSV-1 genitally, which is the same virus that causes cold sores on your mouth, and not HSV-2, which is typically what causes sores on your genitals. I use condoms every single time I have sex - no questions. If I have any inklings of a symptom (which haven't happened since the first six months), I do not engage in sex.

Why else haven't I told? I am scared. I am scared of the one I love - who I am reuniting with after an extended break-up - rejecting me. I am afraid that it will stunt the reunion process. We are moving so slowly emotionally, and I'm afraid that this will throw a wrench in the process. You see, I contracted HSV-1 after him; now that we've gotten back together and picked up where we left off physically, I'm in a bind. I'm so afraid that this will make him see me in another light. I am petrified. Trust me, I am not out to hurt him - it is the last thing I want to do. I am just so utterly terrified. I am. But I know I need to tell him. But now, after we've engaged in sexual intercourse many, many times, I am afraid there's no going back to fix it. So, I protect him by arming myself with knowledge, good health, and medication.

I'm a good girl, I'm well-educated, I haven't slept with a lot of people. I do have a conscience. I got HSV-1 from someone who knew he got cold sores, but didn't know that they could be transmitted from his mouth to my vagina. So there you have it. Now I have cold sores, but I am obligated to divulge this information to everyone and their brother (if that's who I'm sleeping with) because of their location. Somehow, I can't bring myself to do it. It's not a "justification," because I simply have your cold sores - which you never tell anyone about - on my vagina. Where they are much less likely to be transmitted to your genitals than if you kiss your grandma when she has a cold sore. So, why me? Why the double standard? Why the stigma? Why the scarlet letter?

No "divine right" here. Just a girl in love with an inactive virus that most of you have on your mouth, or at least in your bloodstream. And a much better idea of how to control it and prevent its spread than you know what to do with your oral herpes.