How can doctors tell if I have herpes?

If you have been exposed to herpes but are so far asymptomatic, or if you believe you are experiencing an outbreak, you should make a doctor’s appointment to get tested for HSV-1 and HSV-2.

If you have an active outbreak, your clinician will swab the lesions directly to test for the virus.^{4, 5} If you were exposed but do not have any sores, your doctor can still test you for herpes with a blood test. Both swab and blood tests can tell you whether you have herpes, and they can differentiate between HSV-1 or HSV-2. However, these tests cannot confirm when or from whom you got herpes.

Our top-rated medical team can talk to you about your concerns or symptoms and help you decide whether to get tested for HSV-1 and HSV-2. If they decide to order tests for you, they will send the order to a lab near you. Lab results will be sent back to PlushCare, where your clinician will interpret and discuss treatment options with you during a subsequent appointment.

During a swab test, a sample of fluid from open and unhealed sores or blisters is swabbed and then analyzed.^{4, 5} Labs can use this sample to either do a viral culture or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. In viral cultures, cells taken from your sample are grown in a lab and tested for herpes. In PCR tests, clinicians look for genetic material from HSV-1 or HSV-2 in the sample.

During a blood test, providers will take a small amount of blood from your arm. They will then look for herpes antibodies, which your immune system produces to fight off the virus if it is present in your body.^4,5 HSV-1 and HSV-2 both produce different antibodies, allowing your medical team to diagnose you with one or the other.

If you have not yet experienced an outbreak but believe you have been exposed to herpes, blood tests can tell you whether you have herpes simplex virus-1 or herpes simplex virus-2. While HSV-1 usually causes oral herpes, and HSV-2 most often causes genital herpes, different people react to each virus strain in different ways, so there is no guarantee that outbreaks will only occur on your mouth or face with HSV-1 or only on your genitals or rectum with HSV-2.^4,5

A diagnosis of either type of HSV, however, will allow your doctor to prescribe the appropriate antiviral medication that will help you manage outbreaks if they do occur. Managing outbreaks means you can also better guard against transmitting herpes to your loved ones.