Diagnosis of lesions to determine HSV1 or HSV2 by NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing**) is recommended because it will distinguish between HSV 1
and HSV2 and direct treatment (i.e. counseling for management of the chronic conditions and the likely need for ongoing treatment with viral suppressors).
No follow-up testing is recommended beyond the initial diagnosis.
The CDC recommends that persons who test positive for HSV 1 or 2 also be tested for HIV. HSV infections increase the likelihood of HIV infections by 200–300%.
Genital herpes is a chronic, lifelong viral infection. Two types of HSV can cause genital herpes: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Most cases of recurrent genital herpes are caused by HSV-2, and 11.9% of persons aged 14–49 years are estimated to be infected in the United States (436). However, an increasing proportion of anogenital herpetic infections have been attributed to HSV-1, which is especially prominent among young women and MSM (186,437,438).
Clinical diagnosis of genital herpes can be difficult because the self-limited, recurrent, painful, and vesicular or ulcerative lesions classically associated with HSV are absent in many infected persons at the time of clinical evaluation. If genital lesions are present, clinical diagnosis of genital herpes should be confirmed by type-specific virologic testing from the lesion by NAAT or culture (186). Recurrences and subclinical shedding are much more frequent for HSV-2 genital herpes infection than for HSV-1 genital herpes (439,440). Therefore, prognosis and counseling depend on which HSV type is present. Type-specific serologic tests can be used to aid in the diagnosis of HSV infection in the absence of genital lesions. Both type-specific virologic and type-specific serologic tests for HSV should be available in clinical settings that provide care to persons with or at risk for STIs. HSV-2 genital herpes infection increases the risk for acquiring HIV twofold to threefold; therefore, all persons with genital herpes should be tested for HIV (441).
The majority of persons infected with HSV-2 have not had the condition diagnosed, many of whom have mild or unrecognized infections but shed virus intermittently in the anogenital area. Consequently, most genital herpes infections are transmitted by persons unaware that they have the infection or who are asymptomatic when transmission occurs. Management of genital HSV should address the chronic nature of the infection rather than focusing solely on treating acute episodes of genital lesions.