HSV 1&2 Neg at 2wk, HSV2 Pos 1.8 IGG at 6 Wks, WB Neg

[NeedAssurance]

Hi Terri,

I am following up with you because I am still very nervous about my testing result. I also feel like posting this may be able to help other people in my situation.

I got nervous after have a rash in my groin I was told by my PCP that i looked like contact dermatitis. I was still nervous so I got a full panel STD test one week after the rash broke out the results were neg for everything including HSV 1&2. I don’t have the values but both <0.9 IGG.

I was told that testing at 2wks and at 6wks were standard testing times for STDs. I got tested a full panel test again from the same place and everything was negative at 2wks.

At 6wks I got tested a full panel again and everything was neg except HSV2. Values below.

HSV1 < 0.9
HSV2 1.8 Positive

I contacted your clinic and took the WB at roughly 11 to 12.5 wks after all this and the results were negative for HSV 1&2. I decided to retest at 16 weeks to verify because you said that is the highest accuracy. That test was also negative for both HSV 1&2

Reading on here you stated IGG values often change is it really possible for the value to change from <0.9 to 1.8 and still be neg. You have stated people with IGGs in the > 1.0 range will generally always test there. I have had the worst anxiety and have been getting depressed over this can you please clarify what my results mean and what I should do going forward.

[Terri Warren]

Yes, IgG values can change over time, certainly. They don’t usually change very much unless a person is actually newly infected. But a change from <.91 to 1.8 may be very little change at all. Let's say your initial value was 0.5. You don't know that because no values were reported which is actually usual. So then the difference between 0.5 and 1.8 is really very little. but the point is that the western blot if a far superior test than the ELISA, and I'm surprised that you are not more pleased and reassured by the far better test and falling back into worry over the inferior test. Even the CDC in it's latest STD Treatment Guidelines for 2015 (you can google it if you like) warns of the false positive problem for index values between 1.1 and 3.5. That person is YOU! We've clarified twice now that you are not infected. I suggest you move forward with confidence about your negative western blot. And if you can't then I suggest you seek psychological help for perseverating about this test score - your worry is not warranted. Terri

[NeedAssurance]

Terri,

Thank you for your quick response. It does make me feel better knowing that both WBS came back negative. The fact that I had two neg Elisa tests then a positive at the 6 week mark when I was told it would most likely show up is what has caused the concerns. It just seemed like to good to be true that it was actually a false positive. Knowing that going from a <0.9 to a 1.8 isn’t that unlikely definitely helps as well. Thank for all your help. I will try to not worry so much.

[Terri Warren]

OK, deal!
It sounds like you are having difficulty believing that false positives happen at all. But there is much literature on this now and when the CDC weighs in on an issue, you know it’s real

Terri

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