Many diseases are on the rise forcing medical technology to continue strong in its efforts to protect the world's population. One such advancement is a new test that can more accurately detect genital herpes.
To many of America's youth, herpes has always been one sexually transmitted disease briefly learned about in high school, but today one out of every five teens and adults live with the disease. In the past, determining whether or not a patient was a carrier of the herpes simplex virus 2 might have been more difficult then actually living with the disease, but that is no longer the case.
With the recent approval of the POCkit HSV-2 Rapid Test by the Federal Drug Administration, doctors can assess patients faster and more accurately then in recent years.
The POCkit HSV-2 Rapid Test was produced due to a need to better help a rising number of herpes patients.
Unlike tests in the past, the new technology allows patient testing at any time rather than a three-day period during which the virus is symptomatic. Also the POCkit test is able to differentiate between various versions of the disease, such as cold sores, HSV-1, as opposed to genital herpes, HSV-2.
The test is administered by means of a finger prick and scanning the blood for the HSV-2 antibody. Once blood has been drawn a diagnosis can be made within 10 minutes.
"I think it's going to be revolutionary," said Gray Davis, a medical doctor, and president of Sexual Health Communication. "The test will make it able for small town doctors to diagnose patients where only larger hospitals and specialists were able to in the past."
Although the test has not yet been marketed, Shelly Evans, a corespondent for Diagnology, Inc. which produced the POCkit test, said stock will hopefully be out sometime in the next few months.
As stock is being distributed, University's Health Service is in line to receive the more efficient test. UHS, along with all other medical facilities, have been restricted at times from giving the old test to some concerned patients because they didn't come in during the three-day symptom window, said UHS Nurse Practitioner Arlene Taylor.
The new test might be the answer to end the rise in statistics regarding the disease and its victims.
"The herpes virus is rising the most rapidly in the teenage population with 8 to 10 percent of college students carrying the disease," said Davis. "Unfortunately, only one out of 20 carriers know they have the disease and there is a great lack of knowledge. The only way to impact transmission is through education."
The herpes virus is a very difficult disease to understand, yet understanding is vital. There is an abundance of information available about sexually transmitted diseases like herpes and the POCkit test that can be easily accessed through national hot lines at 1-919-361-8488, and at the Website www.advicecenter.com
09-15-99
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