tested negative for years...now tests positive for herpes
I am 37 years old and am a serial relationship-ist. Beginning at age 17 and continiung through until 9 months ago, I have been in monogomous relationships that start out with protected sex and eventually progress to unprotected sex. Seven relationships to be exact. There was, on average, about a year between relationships. I've been tested for every STD immediately following each relationship and then 6 months after that to give any antibodies time to form. Thirteen tests came back negative for any STD. This 14th test has come back positive for HSV-2. I contacted my last partner who went and got tested and was negative. My gynocologist says that I could've been exposed to the virus 20 years ago. If it takes 12-16 weeks for antibodies to develope...why wouldn't they have developed long ago if I was infected long ago? What's the point of getting tested if you get negative results, but are actually positive for twenty years. I am entering a new relationship. We have not had sex yet and I need to have "the Talk" for the first time in my life. My gynocologist recommends he get tested for peace of mind, but what assurance is there if he's like me and tests negative multiple times but is still infected?
How do I convince him that thats even a possibility?
There are two types of herpes (HSV), herpes simplex one and herpes simplex two. Both live in the spine in a latent stage, and are most likely to manifest themselves when someone is feeling depleted. simplex one generally manifests itself on the mouth as a cold-sore, and simplex two generally on the genitalia. however simplex one can appear on genitalia and vice versa. Herpes is a skin to skin transmitted disease. Meaning just rubbing of the genitalia, closed mouth kissing, and oral sex can be modes of transmission. one of the most common ways of it spreading is parents kissing their children. Also, the most contagious time for the virus to spread is not during an outbreak, rather when the skin is "shedding". An outbreak may never actually occur. One in four adults in the USA have herpes, and the most common symptom is no symptom at all. There are different types of tests as you may know including a visual examination, a culture if there is an open sore, or a blood test. I know it may seem frustrating but none of these test are 100%. The blood test is looking for anti-bodies instead of the actual virus, which means it is plausible to have a false negative. Stigma around Sexual Transmitted infections make them difficult to talk about and prevent people from open communication and testing. which is absurd when such a high percentage of the population is infected.
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