Equivocal Result

[VeryNervous]

Hi Terri – thanks for taking my question. I’m a 31 year old make. I made a terrible mistake and had unprotected oral sex performed on me by a female call girl. I went to get tested two weeks after the incident and it came back with an hsv1 negative result l and an hsv2 result of 1.15.

In the past, i have also tested equivocal .97 and ended up being negative on the re-test.

I don’t have any sores, but i feel a burning sensation in the urethra. I’m not sure if that’s in my head or not.

The doctor told me to come back to be retested in 2-3 weeks, but I’m freaking out. Is it possible that this is another false result?

Thank you.

[Terri Warren]

I think this extremely low positive is consistent with your previous equivocal result. You likely have a protein in your blood that is similar to one associated with HSV 2 antibody but is not due to herpes. The type of HSV you would normally get from oral sex is HSV 1, not HSV 2. If you want greater certainty you can get a western blot which is what the CDC recommends with low positive results.

Terri

[VeryNervous]

Thank you Terri. I truly do appreciate the response. Obviously, you can’t put odds on whether this is a false positive, but if i understand you correctly, it is likely that this positive is the result of something in my blood, non-herpes related so there is a good chance this is a false positive?

How long should i wait to get re-tested?

Do you think the burning sensation in my urethra is in my head? It does not burn when i urinate.

Thank you so much

[Terri Warren]

I simply do not think you are at risk of acquiring HSV 2 from receiving oral sex from this encounter.

If you have had other partners with whom you have had intercourse in the past recently, that could certainly have put you at risk for HSV 2

Terri

[VeryNervous]

Thank you Terri. I’ve used condoms in all other encounters. I really do appreciate it.

[Terri Warren]

You’re welcome.

Terri

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Terri Warren.

[VeryNervous]

Terri, apologies, but i had one last question. My meatus appears a bit swollen. The area is sore but its not painful. Again, it does not hurt to urinate or ejaculate. Could this be a sign of an hsv2 infection? In have been checking the area, so its possible i could have caused this.

Thanks again

[Terri Warren]

Unlikely but if you are concerned, you should have a professional look at it.

This is your final post on this subscription. If you have more questions, feel free to renew

Terri

[VeryNervous]

Hi Terri – So sorry to hear about the practice. The work you do really is incredible.

I just wanted to follow up. As a refresher, I tested low positive at 2 weeks after potential exposure from receiving unprotected oral sex. The Result was negative for all STD’s except for a low 1.15 positive for HSV2. My Doctor told me to come back and re-test two weeks later.

I was re-tested two-weeks later (4 1/2 weeks post potential exposure) and the results came back at 1.05 Equivocal for HSV2.

There are no symptoms and my doctor is fairly confident that I do not have HSV2. He recommended no further testing. What do you think?

Thanks again.

[VeryNervous]

Also, as a reminder, I had previously tested equivocal at .97 and later tested negative.

Thanks Terri

[Terri Warren]

I agree that it is extremely unlikely that you are infected with HSV 2. I suspect you will always test in the equivocal – low positive range. You should be looking at index values greater than 3.5 for a positive.

Terri

[VeryNervous]

Thanks Terri. Do you think its some sort of protein in my blood which elevates the result?

Thanks again

[Terri Warren]

I do, yes

Terri

[Author]

Posts