HSV 1

[Betty]

I understand there are more false negatives for HSV 1 than for HSV 2. How likely for accuracy of negative results for HSV 1 by Elisa and Western Blot over 2.5 years? Albeit IgM is chronically positive. What about your clients with negative blood work but positive cultures? Did they show seroconversion years later? My doc say negative blood work but positive cultures indicate non-hepes related immune system disorders. Is this comment true? Also chronic tingling for those thinking it is caused by herpes, in addition to fungal and bacterial infections, diabetes and nutritional issues could be culprits. I know for sure in my situation. My chronic tingling has almost been cured through nutritional supplementation. Whether or not I caught HSV1, it wasn’t the cause of all my problems. It turns out too that Valtrex doesn’t help. I thought it did but it was something else stopping the tingling.

[Terri Warren]

I honestly have no idea what your doctor is talking about. non-herpes related immune disorder with a positive herpes culture? Never ever heard of anything even vaguely similar. I would ask for specific references for you for read about such a condition if I were you.

So Betty, you had a positive culture for HSV 1? Is it possible for you to get that paperwork at this point? Was it from the genital area?

Ignore the darn IgM – it is not useful in any way shape or form.

And no, I have had 9 patients in 32 years who were swab test positive and remained western blot negative. They never did serconvert.

Terri

[Betty]

I had negative results for over two years. It has been a year and a half since I was last tested by Western Blot. My doc is having my blood drawn again for testing I have not had anything that a doctor would culture. A few years ago I had white bumps on a hyper red irritated spot on my genitalia.,Two days later when I saw my doc she just saw a hyper red spot with a white streak and said it was not herpes until she saw the IgM a few days later. She had my blood tested a few times. The typing blood tests were always clearly negative. Even the western blot taken after 28 months from initial symptoms was negative. The problem had been that for two years a doctor said I had it and then retracted her statement. She never took a culture. A year after initial symptoms, the rash returned. There were white bumps without the hyper red skin but I did not know I should have had a culture done. My doc who was a gynecologist said she did not know that a person could have negative blood work but a positive culture. In the meanwhile, I developed full body parensthesia. It is a mystery illness. Can you tell me if your nine patients had type one or type two and if they developed other unusual symptoms?

[Terri Warren]

WAIT. You still didn’t answer my question here – are you saying you had a positive culture and a negative western blot? You first post most definitely imitated that you had a positive culture but this post doesn’t seem to confirm that or at least I am very confuse by it. If you did have a positive culture, was it typed HSV 1 vs. HSV 2?

The truth is that with brand new infection, people always have a positive culture and a negative antibody test because the infection is new – they have virus present on their skin but not enough time has passed for antibody to be detected. It takes between 3-16 weeks for antibody to be developed.

If you have a negative antibody test (western blot) and have NOT had a positive culture, then I would believe the western blot. And if you have bumps you are concerned about and have NOT had a positive swab test, get a swab test so you can be reassured.

Terri

[Betty]

I never had a culture test done. My doctor thought the rash did not look like herpes. But it hurt, itched, and caused me to have strong genital biting sensations. It had changed in appearance from white bumps on a hyper red base to white streaks on a hyper red base. I also got some long slashes like cuts in my vaginal skin several months later. The person who could have infected me has genital type one. Unfortunately my doctor was not up to date with herpes info and never took a culture. She had diagnosed me as having herpes based on IgM results. Two years later, she retracted her statement and said she was wrong.

She was unaware that people could have herpes despite negative blood tests, that the IgMs are useless, and that she should have taken cultures when I had rashes and broken skin. She is overall a good gynecologist but was behind in her understanding of diagnosing herpes.

[Terri Warren]

Well, the good thing is that she admitted her error. If your western blots are still negative this far out, I believe very strongly that you do NOT have herpes and that you can put this whole thing behind you. While no test is 100% perfect, this is about as good as it gets and you have to base your life on something, right? Base it on the results of the western blot and move on. You’ll be glad you did.

Terri

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