Accuracy of blood test / new sexual encounter

[LAW1984]

I am so grateful to have come across your work and research! I have found out more in one day about Herpes than I have in 8 weeks.

I had a one night stand on 12th Dec 2020, unprotected sex, including unprotected oral. I was highly anxious and stressed afterwards regarding STD/STI. Two days later I had a sore/ulcer, I contacted my local STD clinic however they were unable to see me due to Christmas holidays etc. On the days that followed I had a number of other ulcers inside my vagina along with white discharge. They weren’t particularly painful but I was aware of them. The STD clinic put me on antivirals for a week and it cleared up. Please note the ulcers did not appear to burst / crust / cause pain when urinating. Also no other symptoms e.g flu/swollen lymph nodes etc. The usual STDs came back clear also.

Please note unable to contact this person to ask about his Herpes status.

I carried out a letsgetchecked test last Monday (8 weeks after) and the results are as follows:
Herpes simplex 1 IGG 1.11 – positive
Herpes simplex 2 IGG 0.5 – negative

Both my parents have HSV1 on coldsore form so I was half expecting this result however this looks like a new infection?

My question is :

1. do you think I’ve caught genital HSV 1 from this encounter
2. I do plan on retesting at 12 weeks, but do you think the results will more than likely stay the same at this stage?

I thank you in advance.

[Terri Warren]

Interesting post.
How did you see the ulcerations inside your vagina, were they actually visible to you? Few things cause ulcerations in the vagina in the US besides herpes. Had you ever had a cold sore on your lip prior to this? Your HSV 1 is just barely positive. Have you taken antiviral medication?

Terri

[LAW1984]

Hi Terri,

I felt a ‘spot’ then checked with a mirror, after 3-4 days more appeared (around 8) They looked very similar to mouth ulcers. They were a bit uncomfortable but didn’t seem to cause the extreme pain I’ve read online that would be expected. A soak in the bath certainly did help!

Yes I took acyclovir 5 times a day from 23 Dec for a week. Do you think this may have had an impact on my blood result?

Do you think blood result could be accurate after 8 weeks exposure?

I’ve never had a coldsore on my face, never had a tingle or anything remotely similar.

I’m interested to know your thoughts on this.

Thank you

[Terri Warren]

well, that does sound like herpes to me.
I don’t think the dose and duration of antiviral therapy is enough to impact your antibody test, no.
And if using the IgG test, 8 weeks is close to as good as it is going to get.
The IgG test for HSV 1 is nowhere near as good as it is for HSV 2, so I’m not sure what to make of your results. How about if you repeat the IgG test at 8 weeks and let me know what it shows and we’ll go from there.

Terri

[LAW1984]

Hi Terri,
Following on from above I completed a new IGG test (after 12 weeks exposure) and have received the following results:

HSV 1: 0.73 (it was 1.1 4 weeks ago)
HSV 2: 2.22 (it was 0.5 4 weeks ago)

I have had zero symptoms since the above. I am rather confused why I was positive for HSV 1 last time and now negative? Also do you believe my HSV 2 result is a true positive?

Thank you in advance

[Terri Warren]

And yours is a perfect example of issues with the IgG test. You need confirmation of your HSV 2 test 12 weeks out from any sexual encounter by western blot and I don’t know what to make of the HSV 1 result since it was positive and is now negative. Your symptoms were very concerning to me, that you described above.

Terri

[LAW1984]

Hi Terri,
I have some more questions please.
At 19 weeks I have done another IGG retest and my results have gone down for HSV2 to 1.17.(barely positive) Looking back they were 0.5 at 8 weeks then 2.22 at 12 weeks. Is it unusual for the values to go down? I contacted the nurses at the clinic who advise they can fluctuate and I may always stay with low antibodies at this range, it was my understanding that in time the values should increase? For your reference my HSV1 result was 0.408.

How likely do you think this is a false positive? I have had no further break outs since December. Is it normal to have frequent outbreaks in first year?

Seriously considering the Western blot to get to the bottom of this, however I live in the uk and unsure who I contact to obtain bloods?

Thank you

[Terri Warren]

well, if you live in the US I would certainly advise the western blot. With your value fluctuating, it’s very difficult to know what is going on here. Wish I could be more certain about this, but I’m not.
I’ve had many people send samples from the UK to get the blot done. I would involve you finding someone to draw and spin your blood and having a video conference with me. It would certainly be expensive but would give you the certainty you need.

Terri

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