is it possible for a culture test to give you a false positive?

Question

reason being i only had one pimple looking bump and itching in vagina area. also if i did have it dormant in my body for this long is it possible that my boyfirend may also have it. he got tested right after i did but he was negative on his test

i am speaking of genital herpes. i was told i was positive for it. but my boyfriend got tested and he was negative. does that mean he was not expsoed

he shows no signs of any type. but he got tested but it was negative and we been together for two years. so is it safe to say he has not been exposed

Answer 1

Some men are shedders, meaning they only carry it and can give it to others ! Is it possible that he is a carrier? did you ask his dr. about that? If he was neg. then some how he never got it from you? My spouse has never gotten it or been tested for it but i was. but that doesnt' mean he doesn't have it! Once exposed to it it is in the body still but not active yet!! No signs or symtoms of it thats all ! They still can give it to someone else! he should get tested again later on cause if you had it for that long then he should have it to sooner or later!! he may never show any signs of it though but it can be dormant for years !!!!

Answer 2

Culture testing is over 90% aaccurate. It remains the gold standard for HSV testing, so the chances of it being wrong are slim to none.

How was your boyfriend tested? Serum HSV is not recommended even though it is used quiet frequently. HSV raises titer results during the initial outbreak. Recurrent outbreaks do not tend to raise the titer so they are not as reliable. If he was tested through blood, he should follow up with a culture, since you have tested positive. I highly doubt that he is truly negative if you two are sexually active. Get him retested.

Answer 3

i take it that you took an HSV test?
if so a PCR swab culture has to be done with in 24-48 (at MOST) of the symptoms starting, otherwise it cannot be trusted. if if is a first outbreak a blood test for HSV type IgG specific will not be accurate until 12-16 weeks after exposure. please provide more info if this is not the STI/STD that you were asking about.