HSV1 test and clarifications

[Westover HeightsKeymaster]

Hi,

After my ex told me she has cold sores, I decided to get tested. I got the following results from 3 different labs for HSV-1. HSV-2 came back negative.

1.9. 8.2, 2.1

How likely is it that I am infected? My doctor told me that these tests are not accurate and that if I havent had an outbreak, I should stop worrying about it.

I am confused at this point of time. If and when I decide to date again, should I disclose this? I have never had any outbreaks.

Also, how does it spread. Can I go about my life like the way I did until now? I enjoy playing with my niece. Is it possible to spread if I dont have an outbreak? And to other people in general.

Thanks

[Terri WarrenKeymaster]

Those are certainly variable results, all over the place results! The problem is that the test for HSV 1, with this method, is no where near as good as it is for HSV 2. If you really want to know if you have HSV 1 you will need to do a herpes western blot. I can help you get that. Having said that, 56% of the US population is infected with HSV 1 so more people have it than don’t. HSV 1 and HSV 2 can be transmitted when there are no symptoms present. If you have HSV 1 orally, you could potentially transmit it via kissing (deep passionate kissing, vs. kissing a child). If you end up having a partner who is negative for HSV 1 and HSV 2, and you turn out to be positive for HSV 1 truly you may wish to take medicine daily to try to reduce the possibility of infecting that person. Since so many people do have a this, you may not feel the need to know for certain, but it appears that you do.

You will not infect your niece when you have no cold sore present.

Do you want me to help you with getting a herpes western blot? It is not available through normal lab channels.

Terri

[Westover HeightsKeymaster]

Thanks for the reply. For now, I will skip the tests. I havent had any outbreaks and it appears that most people carry it anyways. So I can assume that barring an outbreak, the transmission is highly unlikely? In case I am carrying it. I am going to go on about my life like I used to then. I will contact you if I feel the need for tests.

Thanks

[Terri WarrenKeymaster]

OK. I can’t tell you that transmission is unlikely. It really depends upon what you are doing and for a moment assuming that you have this orally. If you are the giver of oral sex to someone else and you have it orally, you could infect them genitally, but not if they have it orally already.
If you kiss a child and have HSV 1, transmission is close to zero if you have no cold sore. If you happen to have it genitally, then yes, transmission via intercourse is unlikely.

Terri

[Westover HeightsKeymaster]

So, what do you recommend?

[Terri WarrenKeymaster]

There is no perfect answer here; different providers would recommend different things, probably. If we were talking about HSV 2, I would ask you to be certain about your status. If you were my patient, I would likely recommend that you find out if you have HSV 1 or not. It would be good to know what if anything you bring into a sexual relationship. If you are negative then you are vulnerable to new infection.

My answer is that if money is not an object, get the western blot. If it is a problem, it isn’t absolutely essential that you know your HSV 1 status.

We’ve used up your three posts. If you would like to ask more questions you’ll need to go back and renew your subscription at this point.

Terri

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by  Terri Warren.

[confguyParticipant]

Hi,

I just couldnt get this out of my head so I renewed the subscriptions to clarify. How accurate is the WB test? If that comes positive/negative can I be absolutely sure about the results? How do I go about getting one?

Thanks

[Terri WarrenKeymaster]

The western blot certainly picks up more HSV 1 infections than the herpeselect ELISA test. I doubt that anyone would say it is a perfect test, but it is an excellent test. It’s as sure as you are going to get. You can send to the UW for a test kit and have the blood drawn by your own provider and sent to them or you can become a patient of our clinic (phone patient) and we can order the test for you at a local Quest lab, they will draw it and send it to UW. That testing system works in all but five states in the US.

Terri

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