For those of you who dont know my story, i will sum it up real quick. 3 months ago in aug. i developed a rash on my inner thigh, buttocks, and penis. i went to the doc and he said it was staph and put me on duricef, an antibiotic. it really didnt do anything, so i went back and he put me on cirpo, and when i started that, the rash on my penis broke out into blisters. so i went to the doctor, and he said it was herpes. he did a herpes test, and it came back negative. we thought the blisters on my penis could have been candida, so he gave me a cream for that, and he then put me on augmentin. the augmentin didnt help the rash either, so he sent me to a dermatologist, who has now decided that i have scabies. im now treating myself for it with some creams. i hope this doctor is right, cause ive had this rash for over 3 months now, and its very annoying. i dont understand why any of my doctors can't just take a blood test of scrap the skin to see what it is, they all just want to eye it. it really pisses me off. has anyone hear ever heard of scabies and herpes being confused with each other?? anyways thanks for letting me vent. take care all.

[This message has been edited by 9ersfan40 (edited 11-25-2002).]

what kind of herpes test? aculture or blood ? I think a smear (sample needs to be done to conclude herpes cause I could be wrong but I think you have to have had a repeted episode of herpes before its found in blood.Are any of the meds an anti viral? augmentin is not and would not help herpes .Doctors miss diagnosed my son with impetigo in the begining,it was on his face though.
your message said scabies right I cant see it while writing this if so it is described in my book as accompanies intense itching which i dont think is present during a herpes ob until maybe its healed
demand a tissue scaping to be sent to a lab good luck

Originally posted by dquist091391:
I think a smear (sample needs to be done to conclude herpes cause I could be wrong but I think you have to have had a repeted episode of herpes before its found in blood.

You don't need any symptoms at all to get an accurate blood test. You just need enough time (at least 12-16 weeks from transmission) for the antibodies to build up enough to be picked up by the test. That's why a blood test is good to show if someone is HSV+ but asymptomatic. They can still pass it on, even though they don't get symptoms. Otherwise we'd never be able to tell if they're HSV+, which isn't the case.

For a culture it might be different though. I think you may need some kind of irritation of the skin (rash, redness, swelling or blister) to swab/scrape, but I could be wrong about that. It might be just that the chances of an accurate result of a swab increases if there's some "stuff" there to scrape off. (ugh, sorry) But if someone is shedding the virus from a known site, even without symptoms, it should be possible to measure it somehow with a swab. It might take more precise methods to get a good sample though.

So I don't seem to know what I'm talking about with the swab/smear but I'm sure about the blood test. LOL http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

TheOneInFour

Thanks 4 in one iwasnt sure about that one dquist