Herpes testing not routine

Dear Annie: I am a 41-year-old female, recently divorced after a monogamous 18-year marriage, and I have herpes. My ex-husband had it before we met, and I contracted it from him years ago. We mistakenly believed it would not be transmitted if we abstained from sex or used a condom during a suspected outbreak. We were wrong.

I have learned a lot about this disease, including the fact that a large number of adults have it and don’t know it. Now that I am back in the dating world, I had myself tested for STDs in order to start out with the full knowledge of my sexual health status – which brings me to the reason I am writing.

My doctor told me that one test would cover almost everything, including HIV, but it would not test for herpes. I had to push my doctor into telling me that I would need a separate test to determine if I’d been exposed to herpes. Not one of my friends knew that a different test was required.

Would you please find out why the medical community does not advise people that they also must have a specific herpes test in order to screen for that as well as other STDs? – Dating Dilemma in Boston

Dear Boston: According to the American Social Health Association, many Americans assume they are tested for STDs as part of routine medical care when, in fact, they are not. We were surprised to learn that in some instances, even when patients request testing for STDs, they aren’t checked for all of the most frequent infections – including herpes. For more information, check out ASHA’s new consumer guide to STD testing, available on their Web site, www.ashastd.org.