Why Everyone Needs A Blood Test For Herpes

I have herpes, don't you?
You don't?
Are you sure?
I wouldn't be so sure if I were you.
Unless you have had a recent type-specific blood test to test for the presence of herpes simplex antibodies you cannot say with any certainty that you don't have herpes.
You think that only 20% of the population has herpes?
Think again.
You may have heard that one out of every five people has herpes, but that number is untrue and a distortion of the facts. The truth is that at least 60% of the adult population has herpes.
Some people for reasons known only to them decided to exclude people who get herpes above the waist- people who get so-called "cold sores" on their mouths and faces, from the herpes statistics commonly reported in the media, then reporting only the percentage of people who get herpes below the waist- so-called genital herpes. This makes no sense at all since the scientific literature doesn't classify herpes simplex 1 (cold sores) as a different disease as herpes simplex 2 (genital herpes)- but rather as two different types of the same disease which are almost identical genetically, and since many of the new cases of herpes of the genital area are actually caused by people getting herpes simplex 1 on their genitals from oral sex. There really is no such thing as " cold sores" -it is simplex herpes simplex 1 of the mouth or face. And those who have it need not be in denial pretending that it's anything other than herpes simplex. The truth is that you can get herpes simplex 1 on almost any part of your body including your nose, your elbows, your fingers, your stomach, your genitals, your anus, etc. The truth is that herpes simplex is herpes simplex and it is only misleading to not include the people with herpes simplex 1 in herpes statistics.

Why Herpes Blood Testing?

What's your first reaction when you hear the word herpes? Most of us grimace and recoil at the sound of it, even though many of us have dealt with it in our personal lives. The name herpes can conjure thoughts of visits to STD infested massage parlors or Caligula style orgies, but that's not a very accurate perception of a viral infection that is such a common occurrence in our society.
There are seven different forms of the herpes virus but when discussing herpes as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) we focus on type 1 and type 2. The other five types of herpes cause other illnesses such as the chicken pox or mononucleosis.
Interestingly, many people do not think of herpes 1 as herpes or as an STD. If I mention testing for type 1 herpes they'll say, "You mean cold sores? My Grandma used to get those, I'm not worried about that", or "yeah, my mom and my brother get them, but I don't have it".
The fact is herpes is transmitted through skin to skin contact, at the site of the infection, when the virus is at the surface of the skin, and it is very readily transmittable. It's estimated that over 70 percent of the adult population has type 1 herpes. Most infections are contracted before the age of five by being kissed by a parent or relative.