OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is genital herpes. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how genital herpes will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 33 year old woman comes to the clinic because she has been experiencing 2 days of vulvar pain, malaise, and burning on urination. She has no remarkable past medical history. She has had 2 new sexual male partners over the last few weeks. Her temperature is 99.4°F. Physical exam shows grouped, tender, and shallow labial ulcers. There is mild enlargement of the right inguinal lymph nodes, and they are slightly tender. A urinalysis shows 5-10 leukocytes/hpf and 1-2 erythrocytes/hpf. Urine culture is negative. What is the most likely cause of this patient’s symptoms?
Explanation: painful grouped genital ulcers (multiple) = genital herpes
Question # 2
A 23 year old female comes to the clinic because she has had a second episode of painful vesicular genital lesions. She shays that her new sexual partner also has similar lessons on his genitals. What condition seems to be causing these lessons in this patient?
Explanation: multiple painful vesicular genital lesions = genital herpes
Question # 3
A 25 year old woman comes to the emergency department with dysuria, vulvar pain and itching. She has been feeling fatigued for the past few days. She recently has had a new sexual partner, and has been using a hormonal vaginal ring to prevent pregnancy. The patient has had chlamydia 4 years ago that was treated with antibiotics. A genital exam reveals inguinal lymphadenopathy, and tender vesicular lesions that cover both the perineum as well as the labia major. What is the likely diagnosis?
Explanation: multiple painful vesicular genital lesions = genital herpes
Page Updated: 10.15.2016