False Positive?

[argyle4488]

Good morning,

During a routine medical exam, my current doctor included the HSV 1 & 2 tests in my annual blood work. I’ve never had an outbreak of genital herpes but I have had cold sores since I was a child. The HSV, as I would have expected came back positive. What I didn’t expect was the HSV 2 to be positive. The first result was 1.2 with the Supplemental test being Positive/Abnormal/Negative. I retested and the second result was 1.07 with the same results for the Supplemental. I’ve never had an outbreak, had comprehensive STI testing done in 2004 before being active with my partner (now husband). All results were negative, though I’m not sure if HSV was included since there is a lot of controversy over results. Do you feel this is a false positive? Why would a GP arbitrarily test for this in someone who’s married and hasn’t complained of any outbreaks? Thank you

[Terri Warren]

I feel it is very likely a false positive, yes. I think we spoke on the phone? These numbers sound very familiar.
Unless you requested an STI screen, I cannot think why herpes antibody testing would be done.
If you requested an STI screen, that I think it’s appropriate to include a screening for herpes.
If you want greater certainty about this, the western blot would be helpful

Terri

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