Low HSV2 IgG level

[jigiane]

Hello. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to helping anxious folks like me. Here’s my situation. I am a 28F born on an island outside the US. I was screened for HSV1 and HSV2 (IgG) initially on 9/17/15 at labcorp:

HSV1- <0.91
HSV2- 1.25

At that point I had no knowledge of potential false positives so I accepted the diagnosis and tried to move on as best I could. I recently got tested again on 8/10/22 at quest diagnostics:

HSV1- <0.90
HSV2- 2.18

It makes sense that my HSV2 antibody level would rise since it’s been almost 7 years since my last test, but it’s still in the low positive range. Quest is recommending that I have confirmatory testing done using their inhibition assay.

My questions are:
1. Do you think I have a high chance that my results were false positives?
2. Should I go with the western blot or the inhibition test as confirmation?
3. Do I need to wait/are there any time restrictions I need to abide by before I take either test?

I’m fairly confident I’m going to do the western blot for peace of mind but I wanted to get your professional opinion first. Thank you so much!!

[jigiane]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have never experienced an outbreak or any clinical symptoms of HSV2.

[Terri Warren]

1. Do you think I have a high chance that my results were false positives?
Yes, I think there is at least a 70% chance that this is a false positive

2. Should I go with the western blot or the inhibition test as confirmation?
I would recommend ONLY the western blot. We have seen false positives on the inhibition assay

3. Do I need to wait/are there any time restrictions I need to abide by before I take either test?
None. Go for it.

Terri

[Author]

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