[Question #13536] HSV2
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1 months ago
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Newly diagnosed genital herpes via swab.
Acknowledging the disease cannot be cured, does the body build any immunity or tolerance to it over time?
How likely are outbreaks to occur each year (understand everyone is different)?
Is it safe to take the viral drugs everyday forever considering it’s lifelong?
Does the disease build resistance to the drugs or could they be taken everyday for 30+ years with no issue?
Thankyou - I haven’t been able to find any knowledgeable doctors where I live on anything other than offering Valtrex.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
1 months ago
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Lots of my answers depend upon whether the infection is HSV 1 or HSV 2. Do you know the type? They behave quite differently in the genital tract
You can take medication safely every day and resistance is rare indeed.
---Terri
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1 months ago
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Had a follow up with the doctor who started me on Valtrex who said it was a visual diagnosis only, and the PCR swab tested negative and am now confused.
What’s the likelihood of a false negative?
It was taken as a pcr swab test probably 4 days after sexual contact and within 24 hours of visual symptoms appearing but before anything had ulcerated.
They’ve kept me on the valtrex for the moment and haven’t re swabbed because it was a telephone call back.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
1 months ago
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The PCR swab can be a false negative, yes, if it is done too late in an outbreak. But you had your swab done only 24 hours after symptoms started, so that's not really the case with you. Can you describe for me how the outbreak looked, what did it do as time passed? Was it a water blister, did it ulcerate? You should not rely upon a visual diagnosis alone, however, it is often wrong. If you don't get any more lesions to swab, consider an IgG test at labCorp if you are in the US 8 weeks from symptoms presentation.
Terri
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