Why Do Health Care Providers Do That?
Posted on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 1:17 PMI just got off the phone with our doctor’s nurse. She called to let us know the results of my daughter’s std testing. Negative for Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia and HIV. The cultures that were done on the bacteria were fine. (She had an overgrowth of bacteria.) That’s good news, right?
When I asked if she was tested for Herpes she said, “oh we don’t do that unless there is a sore that can be cultured.” So you know me, I had to jump in and set her straight. So I told her, “You do realize that a type specific herpes antibody test, you know the ones that pick up herpes antibodies, can be done in order to find out if people have the herpes virus or not. Especially people that want to know their status but don’t get any outbreaks that can be cultured. You do know that, right?”
She had no clue what to say to me. She basically explained that herpes testing is not something the doctor ordered. That’s too bad because my daughter is going to ask me why they didn’t test her for herpes and we’ll have to start that process all over again.
Why do health care providers do that? Why can’t they just do the testing that needs to be done? If somebody is coming in and asking to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases then do what you can to test that person for all sexually transmitted diseases. Come on! Get with the program health care providers! People have a right to know if they are positive or negative for herpes.
Over and over again in my herpes support group I hear the same thing how doctors avoid giving a good herpes blood test.
That’s why this little virus gets passed around so much in my opinion, most people have no idea they have it.
Those of us that got this virus, can play a role in helping others understand how and why to get a good herpes test.
Thanks for this great blog and website.
Thank you for the encouragement and support.
[...] Why Do Health Care Providers Do That? [...]