Confused about blood test results. Also quite scared.

[notsurewhathappened]

Hey all:

I'm pretty sure at this point that I've tested positive with HSV-2. I recently went to my GP for a full STD panel and everything came back negative except for HSV-2.

It was an odd phone call, as my GP casually mentioned it, asked me if I had symptoms (never and I'm very, very neurotic about this sort of thing, have always asked the OB-GYN about anything that looked even the slightest bit funny, which is often since I get the occasional ingrown hair). He left me with, ust be vigilant and schedule an appointment if you notice anything out of the ordinary.

After taking a moment to process that he was telling me I had tested positive for genital herpes (which, while not the end of the world, is also not the smallest deal in the world) I called back, at which point he mentioned that on the Herpeselect test I had received a "low positive" (1.5).

My last sexual encounter was one lone encounter ( an unprotected rekindling of a former long term romance) 13 weeks ago and before that protected (several interludes) 6 months ago. The unprotected encounter is with an ex who recently also received his full panel and came out clean, to the best of my knowledge. Our conversation regarding the mattter was brief. ("HIV negative, clear of all other STD's save for HPV which I don't think they test dudes for"). I'm not positive, as we've fallen out, but I'm pretty sure he sees the same doctor I do, thus presumed inclusion of the HSV testing in his screening.

In any case, I've had one unprotected encounter with a man who has likely (but not assuredly) screened negative. Any other encounters are 6 months out and protected.

I'm negative for HSV-1, Positive for HSV-2 (igg 1.5) and my doctor doesn't even seem to think I should be tested again (although we agreed I would in a month). In the interest of not losing my mind during that month I would like to better understand the situation --

How often do false positives occur with the Herpeselect in HSV-1 negative people?
Is this something I could have had for years with a low negative titre?
If I was in act definitely infected 13 weeks ago, would I still have such a low reading?
Is the titre affected by how long the infection has been present?
Is my doctor's confidence misplaced?

As for now I am proceeding as though infected. Despite the hopes of those online, it seems that it is likely I have Genital Herpes. Until tested, I don't have plans to be active sexually active and when I am, I plan to use disclosure, condoms and antiviral medication to make sure there is awareness and prevent transmission.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[betsyb1967]

Your hsv2 igg is on the low side. Only about 20% of those results in that range are actually + . You definitely need to confirm it with further testing. My recommendation is to wait another month and get a herpes WB to confirm your status.

betsy
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ASHA Moderator

[notsurewhathappened]

Thank you for your response (also, I see that you also respond on another site, didn't realize and please ignore my post there).

My only other questions are how likely would it be for me to have a low igg with a long term infection? Does the number correlate with length of infection? Does being negative for HSV-1 change that 20% statistic?

Thanks again for your response (and for your responses to others, you really are doing the good work, this is scary when you don't understand, after reading all these posts from people I feel like things will be okay one way or the other! Life does indeed go on...)

Finally, I have to get the WB from the one site that has it, do I just call them? I can probably google that, ignore me if the info is easy to find

[betsyb1967]

Your provider has to order a herpes western blot ( WB ) blood test for you.

The actual results of your blood test are just numeric results. You can't use the number to ascertain how long you've been infected or anything like that.

betsy
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ASHA Moderator