While reading through the news over the past week, I found a story on sexually-transmitted disease exams wherein a health care provider made remarks hinting that it's nearly pointless to check for the herpes virus. Per Dr. Bradley Stoner of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, medical related screening for hsv virus is so inaccurate (producing false negatives at a number far surpassing lab tests for other types of STDs) that it is nearly worthless except in cases where someone is already experiencing recurrent episodes of sores and lesions. In such cases, the screening would be conducted solely to confirm that the patient has HSV-2 instead of something else. Stoner ended his declaration by stating, "Other than that, I probably would not screen for herpes - the waters are just too murky."
This particular statement was especially surprising considering almost all clinical tests show the blood test for the herpes virus to be roughly 90% accurate at diagnosing infection. Stoner's statements became yet more puzzling once I stopped by the web page of the ASHA (American Social Health Association) - the same organization for which Stoner is a spokesman. Per the ASHA, you can find several FDA-sanctioned blood tests that are proven to be exceptionally reliable at identifying the herpes simplex virus in affected individuals.
Is There a Debate Concerning Whether to Test for Herpes?
Thanks to the contrary reports from Stoner's very organization, as well as the absence of corraboration for his position from additional sources, it would appear as though the doctor is in the minority in his viewpoint that no available test for herpes is reliable enough to bother taking. Conversely, his claim would've been completely in agreement with views stated by many other researchers if he said that, apart from the handful of FDA-endorsed blood tests which check for glycoprotein, or gG, none of the other herpes tests are trustworthy enough to be used for diagnosis.
The Last Word - Is it Beneficial to Test for Herpes?
Though herpes tests are known for being unreliable, with many producing an unacceptably excessive volume of false-negative results, there is still a sturdier argument to be presented for being screened than there is for electing not to do it. In spite of less-reliable tests like culture swabs and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests not being able to accurately detect illness in as much as 30% of cases, they still provide the opportunity for millions of herpes-infected individuals to place themselves on the road to treatment.
This particular statement was especially surprising considering almost all clinical tests show the blood test for the herpes virus to be roughly 90% accurate at diagnosing infection. Stoner's statements became yet more puzzling once I stopped by the web page of the ASHA (American Social Health Association) - the same organization for which Stoner is a spokesman. Per the ASHA, you can find several FDA-sanctioned blood tests that are proven to be exceptionally reliable at identifying the herpes simplex virus in affected individuals.
Is There a Debate Concerning Whether to Test for Herpes?
Thanks to the contrary reports from Stoner's very organization, as well as the absence of corraboration for his position from additional sources, it would appear as though the doctor is in the minority in his viewpoint that no available test for herpes is reliable enough to bother taking. Conversely, his claim would've been completely in agreement with views stated by many other researchers if he said that, apart from the handful of FDA-endorsed blood tests which check for glycoprotein, or gG, none of the other herpes tests are trustworthy enough to be used for diagnosis.
The Last Word - Is it Beneficial to Test for Herpes?
Though herpes tests are known for being unreliable, with many producing an unacceptably excessive volume of false-negative results, there is still a sturdier argument to be presented for being screened than there is for electing not to do it. In spite of less-reliable tests like culture swabs and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests not being able to accurately detect illness in as much as 30% of cases, they still provide the opportunity for millions of herpes-infected individuals to place themselves on the road to treatment.
About the Author:
Interested in finding out more about ways to test for herpes?, then visit Devin Brindinshire's site and learn about all of the available forms of screening, as well as how to answer the question what does herpes look like.
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