HSV 1 And 2 negative but concerned

[Question 123]

Hello,

About 13 weeks ago I shared a cigarette and pipe with someone who is confirmed to be HSV 1 positive orally (cold sores) since she was little. She claims she did not have a cold sore that night but I do not trust her to tell the truth as she is not a trustworthy person in any capacity, nor was she at all educated about what herpes even is. A week after the encounter, I got sick and this included white spots on my tonsils and swollen lymph nodes(I read these can be symptoms of herpes)but no open lesions or sores. Throughout my life, if I get sick, I usually get the mildest form of that particular illness, which leads me to believe that if I got herpes, I wouldn’t get a terrible outbreak, but rather a mild sore throat like I got. I got swabbed at the time for bacteria but not herpes and it came back negative. Since the encounter I have had IGG type specific tests done at 13 weeks and a Western Blot at 12 weeks. I also had an Igm type specific test (I know it is not recommended) at 2 weeks post exposure. Every single herpes test came back negative. I have read that HSV 1 IGG can have false negatives and is a bit more elusive than HSV 2. My concern is that the tests either missed the infection or that they were done too early (including the Western Blot even though I know it is very accurate) because I read that for some people it takes 6 months for detectable antibodies. I plan to get tested again in a few weeks however I want to know if I can consider all these results completely conclusisve. I get mixed information everywhere I try to look and I just want to clarify before I continue to use time and money. The reason for the intense paranoia is that this incident followed an STD scare from a few months prior due to a sexual assault. Needless to say I’ve been through a lot leading up to now. Thank you for any information you can give I really appreciate it

[Question 123]

I also forgot to mention a few more things:

I know you don’t typically get herpes from shared items, but rather direct contact, but I just want to rule out not having HSV 1 from the sexual assault I encountered ( I had a sore throat after that) or see if I had it all along anyway.

My blood that was sent to the Western Blot at UW did not arrive there until 4 days after I sent it, meaning that it was NOT refrigerated for the remainder of the time after the icepack melted: 3-4 days. Would this make the results inaccurate and nullify the test?

If I were to get another Western blot through you, would the consult with you serve as the “doctor who signs off” and then be able to go straight to the lab and get the blood drawn, or would I have to then go to a doctor and repeat the same process as before?

I know igm has a lot of false positives and is not a good test. However, are there typically false negatives as well?

[Terri Warren]

The I GM has many many false positive results and I would not recommend using it.
I can assist you with getting another Western blot, yes. You could not go directly to the lab and asked for this test to be done without a clinician order.

Terri

[Question 123]

I guess what I mean is that are YOU the clinician that would order it based on a video consult with you? Like is the video consult sufficient and that would constitute te the clinician order. And then you could send me to a lab near me. Also who would then tell me the ultimate results

[Terri Warren]

You could certainly also do this through your own clinician if you wish.
If you go through me, our physician’s name will be on the order and it will constitute the clinician order. I would send you to a laboratory near you to have your blood drawn and it would be shipped to the University of Washington. We are doing this as part of a research study where you would be completely anonymous when we used your results. I would share the results with you via email if you approved of that.

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

Terri

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