Skincare Treated

How to Confirm the Herpes Diagnosis?

Cold sores are a viral disease that typically manifests itself with clusters of blisters on the lips and near the mouth area. It is irritating, can be painful and disfiguring during the active phase. But apart from these obvious signs, the question you might want to ask yourself is “how do I confirm the diagnosis?

To understand the tests that can be performed and how the virus is detected, one needs to first understand the way the virus works.

Cold Sores Virus

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus Type 1, which causes sores on the upper half of the body. After the virus enters the body, usually though a cut or lesion on the skin, it travels up the central nervous system and resides in the roots or ganglions of the nerves.

When an attack is triggered, the herpes simplex virus travels down the nerves and to the skin, usually on and around the lips, and multiplies. This causes fluid-filled blisters to form and the disease is now said to be in the active phase.

Now the answer to the question “how to confirm the diagnosis?” lies in various kinds of laboratory tests that can be performed.

Viral Culture

Growing a viral culture is one way to test for the presence of the HSV1. First, the doctor will swab the blister to try and culture it in the laboratory. But this is successful only in the first two days after a breakout.

Also, viral culture takes at least three to four days to grow and by this time, the blisters may have dried. In which case, it could be a case off too much, too late.

Then there’s a sophisticated method by which doctors can determine the presence or absence of the virus’s DNA in a swab taken from the patient.

The test is called PCR or Polymerase Chain Reaction. This uses an enzyme called polymerase to replicate short sequences of DNA and then examine them to test for the presence of the genetic material of the virus. It takes only a few hours, it’s accurate but is not easily available.

Blood Serum

The third way to test for the herpes simplex virus Type 1 is to perform a serum test. This requires a blood sample from the patient, which is then analysed for the presence of antibodies that the body creates to counter the virus.

But serum tests only indicate that the body has indeed been exposed to the HSV1. It cannot confirm whether the lesion the doctor is examining is a cold sore.

Microscopic Analysis

Another way to answer the question “how do I confirm the diagnosis?” is to get a microscopic analysis done.

Here, the doctor takes a scraping from the blister or lesion and places it under the microscope. The doctor will be able to identify the virus by simply visually examining the sample and can even distinguish between the herpes simplex virus Type1 and Type2.

This is a convincing way to answer the nagging question “how do I confirm the diagnosis?”