Hi,

A partner has just been diagnosed with herpes, and obviously I would now like to know if I am affected.

I currently have no symptoms (that I can see). Will I be able to go into a clinic and take a blood test, or will they tell me to go away and come back if I get symptoms?

Thanks for any advice!

You should have no problem taking the blood test... in fact... it's probably the only way for you to know for sure if you carry the virus or not. I was disgnosed through a blood test as I went to my gyn and asked him to do every test on the book since my partner had gotten some strange symptoms after being with me for the first time. I had no symptoms and herpes was the least I expected and whaddaya know? I have it.

Anyway, if you suspect it and you go to a private doctor I don't see why they would turn you down. In fact, the reason why herpes is so widespread and half the people who have it don't even know it it's because they don't necessarily have obvious symptoms and unfortunately many doctors and clinics won't automatically test you for that unless you have symptoms... that is so wrong and something I hope changes soon... otherwise many more people will be walking around without knowing it that adds to the negative social stigma surrounding herpes.
Ok... enough of that... my best to you when you take your blood test and brace yourself for the wait.

just a few pointers on the blood tests....i found out the hard way that most doctors don't know all that much about herpes. there are two antibodies that the tests look for, igm and igg. IGM are less type specific and their levels can fade with time, igg are type specific and are long term (lifelong) These are the ones that will tell you if you have type 1 or 2. this is not written in stone but as far as i can tell, igm antibodies will develope first, within days to weeks. iggs may take as long as 3 months to up to 6. you best bet is to wait 12-15 weeks and get a type specific blood test. there are 2 that are fda approved and i would think you would want to get one of those. they are like 9X% accurate. From what i've read, the others vary and can give very inacurate results. So in summary wait atleast 3 months and request an fda approved TYPE SPECIFIC TEST. GOOD LUCk

I could be wrong, but I thought IGG antibodies appeared before IGM antibodies.

Nope...The IGG are longterm and the IGM are short terms and unreliable because of cross reactivity.