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.
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