HSV-2 high positive number

[confused4074]

Hello,

I recently visited my doctor for urinary tract symptoms and they did a STD panel on me. i never had any symptoms of herpes, no outbreaks, nothing. I haven’t been sexually active in over 2 years and the last person I was with wore a condom. I tested negative for everything except HSV-2. My HSV-1 came back <.10 and my HSV-2 is 15.73. I’ve searched for answers on the internet and I can’t find anything on HSV-2 results coming back as high as mine. I am still in shock as I am having a hard time accepting this diagnosis. I’m thinking about getting retested but I don’t know what to do. My doctor uses Solstas Labs which are a part of Quest Diagnostics.

My question is: Could this high HSV-2 number be accurate?

Thanks

[Terri Warren]

I don’t know what individual labs do when they are not LabCorp or Quest, but it sounds like a strong positive. This doesn’t exactly sound like a Quest value as it is very high for them, but it could be. Having said that I have no idea what that lab’s cutoffs are for positive. I can only refer back to the usual test values. In which case, it is a strong positive.

I think it is not a surprise that you were seen for a UTI. Sometime herpes can present as a UTI. Either the lesions are in the urethra (pain with urination and minimal white cells in the urine) and they can cause UTI -like symptoms.

Your index value is high and I doubt that it is a false positive but if you doubt it, you can do a western blot. What are your thoughts?

Terri

[confused4074]

I’m not sure. I went for frequent urination and they did a culture which came back as a Uti. I’m taking a antibiotic for that. Also after hearing my results and reading other posts, I mentioned the western blot which they said was for Lyme Disease? It was the lead medical asst that I spoke with. She didn’t sound knowledgeable about that. I go back next week for a ultrasound to see my fibroids have returned. I will speak with the doctor then.

I wanted to ask another question. I had the chickenpox when I was younger and I understand that the virus still lays dormant in my system. Would that have anything to do with my Hsv-2 now?

[Terri Warren]

No, 95% of the US population at age 45 has had chicken pox. It is in the same family (herpes virus) as HSV 1 and 2 but does not influence the test.

The medical assistant doesn’t know about the herpes western blot clearly. And you won’t be able to get the test through your doctor’s office. You can either send to the University of Washington for a kit that your doctor would then draw for you, spin down and ship back or our clinic can order the test for you to be drawn at a lab near you. Those are the two ways to get the western blot done at this time. It is a highly specialized test and it not available through routine labs.

Perhaps this UTI is really just a UTI but sometimes herpes can be in the urethra and cause pain with urination and white cells to be in urine. What it does not cause are the need to urinate frequently or that feeling of needing to pee immediately which are typical for bacterial UTI.

Terri

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