Herpes and hpv//pap smear?
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A pap smear can detect abnormal cells on the cervix which are almost always caused by HPV. Further testing can find out for sure if the abnormal cells are from having HPV. There is also a HPV test that specially tests for HPV.
http://www.thehpvtest.com/
A pap smear CAN'T determine if a person has genital herpes though. Most doctors prefer to diagnose genital herpes when the person is currently having an outbreak. I have heard of people being turned away before because they weren't actually having an outbreak (which is ridiculous). You can always have a blood test done. Herpes can be diagnosed by a physical exam and/or a blood test.
Good luck!
Standard pap smear tests only check for pre-cancerous cells, and often the presence of HPV virus as well (indirectly, through the appearance of cells taken in the swab that might have been infected with HPV). Getting a pap test done does NOT mean you were tested for Herpes, HIV, Hepatitis B or C, gonnorhea, syphillis, or chlamydia. You should assume you were NOT tested for any of those, as you would have had to explicitly agree to being tested for those diseases (and sign a form) in order for them to be performed legally.
If you have a lesion on your cervix when the pap smear is done, the doctor will usualy do additional testing for Herpes and HPV in response to that condition. You can however be tested for Herpes antibodies with a blood draw test (the Focus Technologies Inc. HerpeSelect test) even when you do not have a current lesion, so if you want to get that test you can do so.
You probably had the new liquid based cytology (Surepath or Thinprep) done. With LBC technology, HPV, CT/GC (gonnorhea and chlamydia) and cytology (looking for abnormal cells which can lead to cancer) can be run if ordered that way by the physician. Also note that on both Thinprep and Surepath, there is often computer aided detection of abnormal cells which enhances the accuracy. ACOG (American College of Obstetricians) recommends that females over 30 be screened for HPV at the time of their pap. Under 30 is normally a pap w/reflex to HPv in that an HPV will be run only if the pap result is ASCUS (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance).
Currently there is not technology available to run HSV 1/2 (herpes type 1 or 2) off of the LBC vial. More to come in the near future on that! hint hint! For HSV a culture if a lesion is present is the gold standard. For general testing for possibility of exposure to HSV 1 or 2, an IGG blood test is recommended.
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