Genital Herpes Test Kit

The home test kit for genital herpes is a convenient and discreet way of checking if you have herpes infection.

The test kit includes a swab test, which is used to take a sample from the blisters or sore on your genital or anal area. It comes with a leaflet containing detailed instructions to follow. You must follow these instructions carefully to ensure your test result is accurate. The accuracy of the swab test depends on the quality of the sample taken.

When you receive the home test kit, make sure it is sealed, without any damage to its packaging, and check that it is within its expiry date

When you have taken the sample as instructed on the leaflet, you should place it in the pre-addressed and prepaid envelope provided. You can then post it in any post box.

Once the laboratory has received your sample, it will take 1 to 3 days for your results to become available. You will receive your result via your electronic patient record. We will send you an email asking you to login to your patient record; we will never send you confidential information such as a test result via email.

If your result is positive for herpes, you will require treatment. If your test result is negative, you are unlikely to carry the virus but it is recommended that if you are suffering from symptoms of herpes that you carry out a retest at a later date.

Treatment of herpes can be obtained from your GP or local sexual health clinic. It can also be prescribed by our online doctors.

Some people infected with the herpes virus do not have symptoms until months or years later. So if you have symptoms or think you may have been exposed through unprotected sexual contact then you should get tested.

If you have any of the symptoms below, you should consider getting a herpes test to find out if you contracted the virus:

• Small painful blisters that burst to leave red, open sores around your genitals, anus, thighs or buttocks
• Any vaginal discharge that is unusual for you

If you think you have been infected with the herpes virus you should get tested at least 2 weeks after the episode of unprotected sex where you likely caught it, or at the time you notice blisters or sores forming on your genitalia or anus.

If your partner has herpes or you have had unprotected sex with a new partner, you may also want to get tested.

If you find out that you have symptoms of a different STI, you should also consider getting tested for herpes at this time. This is because it is common to catch more than one STI at the same time.

It’s important to get tested as soon as possible to avoid passing on the virus to other partners, and to ensure you receive the right treatment quickly.

Herpes cannot be cured. Sometimes your body can get rid of the infection by itself, but other times you may need long-term treatment to help manage your symptoms.

After your first outbreak, you may find that you do not have any further episodes or you may notice that you suffer from recurrent outbreaks that need regular treatment.

Antiviral medications (like Aciclovir and Valaciclovir) can help improve your symptoms by stopping the virus from multiplying and controlling your symptoms. They provide treatment for current outbreaks of symptoms (acute therapy) and for people who experience recurrent outbreaks of symptoms (suppressive therapy). Suppressive therapy involves taking a low daily dose for longer periods of time.

You can request this medication through our service by answering a few simple questions which will be reviewed by our doctors, who will then prescribe and issue the medication for you if appropriate. The medication will then be delivered to your door or can be collected from a local pharmacy.

Alternatively you can obtain treatment by seeing your GP or attending at your local sexual health clinic.

When you have symptoms of herpes, there is a high chance you could pass on the virus if you have sex. For this reason it is better to avoid having sex from the time you first notice symptoms until they have gone.

If you do have sex, you should use a condom, but it may not fully protect against passing the virus on because it may not cover areas where there are sores.

If you have herpes but you are currently not showing any symptoms, you are less likely to pass on the infection during sex. Sometimes the virus can be present on the skin even if there are no symptoms - this is called shedding. It doesn’t happen with everyone, but it is more likely to happen in the first year after you get the infection or if you have a lot of outbreaks. It is better to tell your partner and use a condom each time you have sex to help reduce the chance of passing the virus on.

Taking daily antiviral medication (suppressive treatment) to prevent recurrent infections also reduces the risk of passing on the virus.

You can avoid infection by using a condom every time you have sex regardless of whether you are having oral, anal or vaginal intercourse. You should ideally only have unprotected sex if you and your partner have both tested negative for STIs.