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Hi,
I have some mixed reports from doctors:
I met a girl of tinder on the 25th I don’t know her Sexual history and we only deep kissed. I never saw her again. 1 day later on the sunday i began getting flu like symptoms blocked ears / sore throat and a very red eye (conjunctivitis). The sore throat got extremely severe I had to go to the doctor and he prescibed antibiotics (amoxil) and eye drops and said its conjunctivitis.After 7 days the sore throat didn’t clear and it was very painful so go another lot of antibiotics (erythromycin) then 7 days of that.Exactly nearing the end of the second anibiotic 20days after the kissing episode I got a lump on my middle top lip with a hole in the middle it lasted 4 days then it was hard to notice( note i have never got a cold sore before). It looked like 1 blister, it didnt scab to a yellow nor were there multiple small blisters nor did it go bright red) and as I haven’t had cold sores before not sure what it was. 3 days after it appeared ( as needed to wait till monday for doctors ) I went to the doctor who swabbed it and the PCR test was negative for HSV1/2 and he did a blood test IgG )which was negative. ( this was 23 days after exposure and 3 days since the blister on lip.
1) Are my symptoms and timeline evident with initial HSV exposure?
2) In initial exposure to HSV when does the cold sores normally develop as mine was 20 day mark ?
3) Below are link of picture to the cold sore: As I never get them are these colds sores?http://s5.postimg.org/rscjl9czr/Full_Size_Render.jpg
http://postimg.org/image/f3i91l6v7/4) Do I need to get retested ?
5) Do you get HSV1 from the cold sore of the other person or just saliva? If its saliva is it 100% you will get it if you kiss someone? -
I think it is possible that your symptoms could be due to a new herpes infection or it is also possible that the IgG test missed an old infection – it misses 1 out of every 4 HSV 1 infections so that last thing is certainly possible. And the PCR could have been negative because of the wait to have it swabbed and if it is old infection, virus is cleared quite quickly. If this is new infection, 20 days is way out on the long end of having new symptoms but is not completely impossible. Virus can be given off from the skin of someone even when they don’t have a cold sore, so it isn’t just saliva that transmits the virus but skin to skin contact. You probably should be retested, yes. You can start with another ELISA screening test like the one you had but if that stays negative then I would suggest getting the herpes western blot to be certain about your HSV 1 status.
Terri
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IF you already have HSV 1 and the test just didn’t pick it up, a single sore would not be surprising. I did look at the picture and I am unclear if this is herpes. I’m not sure that anyone knows for certain if someone acquires HSV 1 orally which would come first, a sore throat or a lip sore. That honestly has not been studied. I haven’t seen conjunctivitis be part of new herpes – was the doctor at all concerned about it being herpes of the eye?
If you are going to have a western blot done, which would give you the greatest chance of picking up HSV 1, then you should wait 16 weeks from the encounter to do that test. You could do another IgG test at 12 weeks but if it missed an HSV 1 infection the first time, it would likely miss it again. However, if you have new infection, there is a possibility that it would be picked up at a 12 weeks ELISA. So the encounter was on the 25th of July?
Terri
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It is so hard to tell from a picture (which is why we don’t allow them to be posted here) what is going on. I’m not at all worried about the conjunctivitis since you were seen by your doctor for that and they weren’t worried about it being herpes of the eye. Let’s take that one off the list of worries then. I would say you may want to test once more at 12 weeks and it that is negative, you could go with that result, knowing it misses 1 out of 4 infections. Then if you ever get another lip sore, go in right away and have it swab tested within the first day. Does that sound like a plan?
Terri
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Yes, you can get a western blot. You can either get this done through our clinic, we will place an order for blood to be drawn at a lab near you) or you can work directly with the university of Washington.
The symptoms you list are not consistent with HSV 1 but may be consistent with anxiety.
Terri
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Yes! I believe you are in the clear! I like 16 weeks for a western blot but the chances that you would be negative on both HSV 1 and 2 in the screening test and not even indeterminate for HSV 1 or 2 on western blot suggests that this testing at 13-14 weeks is adequate.
Terri
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No test that I know of is 100%, but this is the best test that we have.
Terri
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I do not agree with the statistic on their website. Our newest research show, compared to the gold standard of western blot, the IgG screening test misses on out of every four infections. You should look to see if their statistic was based on a comparison between western blot in asymptomatic individuals and their test.
We don’t have an exact number for the sensitivity of western blot but they think about 95% for HSV 1 and 99.5% for HSV 2.
Terri
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I’m not sure how to answer your question, really. Yes, the blot could have missed your infection but the odds are definitely not. You’re asking me could it be? Yes, is it likely? No! The doctor you saw says no, the tests say no, at some point, you are just going to have to live like you don’t have herpes and if you get a sore, then get it swabbed. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any better advice than this. You are asking for certainty which I cannot offer you in this situation.
Terri
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