Acyclovir and Test Results

[SuperConfused]

Hi Terri,

First of all, I’m so glad I found your forum; it’s been extremely helpful, and I wish I had found it months ago.

Back in January, I saw several small bumps around my labia, and I thought I had a yeast infection or BV. I wanted to get it checked out right away, so I went to urgent care. The doctor looked at it, and told me it was herpes. I asked him if he could collect a sample to be cultured, but he refused saying he was sure it was herpes and a culture was not needed. He gave me a one-week prescription for Acyclovir, and I took my first dose immediately and a second dose later that night.

The next morning I took another dose of the Acyclovir and had a blood test. I took the IgG type specific test for both HSV-1 and HSV-2, and both results came back negative, which I later assumed was either because the infection was too recent or because I was taking Acyclovir when I tested.

I haven’t had any medication since my first outbreak, and I tested again in September. My results were HSV-1 IgG = 1.56, and HSV-2 IgG > 5.00. So I guess I have both HSV-1 and HSV-2.

I’m just wondering if my negative HSV-2 result back in January was more likely due to the fact that I tested too soon or if it’s possible that taking Acyclovir affected the test results. Could I have had HSV-2 for months or years and not have known it and still have negative test results due to starting Acyclovir the day before the test? Or do you think the results were negative because it was a recent exposure and I hadn’t developed antibodies yet?

Thank you for your help!

[Terri Warren]

two days of acyclovir would not impact your antibody test results. You were almost certainly negative because this was a new infection. The fact that you seroconverted (went from negative to positive) also indicates that this is new infection
While it is clear that you are infected with HSV 2, your HSV 1 value is less clear. This is in the low positive range (1.1 to 3.5) and it needs confirmation be western blot if you want to know for sure about your HSV 1 status.

Terri

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