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Hello Terri,
I am 21 and have had two partners with whom I engaged in unprotected intercourse with at some point in the relationship. The first partner was almost 5 years ago. The more recent partner was in January-June of 2014, I had never had any STD screening done, but I figured it was time to get one done just incase. On February 8th 2015 I had a urine and blood test done. A few days later when I received the test results. The IGG HSV test were HSV 1 negative (0.90) HSV 2 positive 1.20 (normal level is 1.10) I instantly had genital anxiety and focused on every feeling, and thought for sure my glans were red and itchy. I have had no previous symptoms to my knowledge. I have had ingrown hairs in the past, but thought nothing of them. But not extensive sores. I contacted my last partner, and advised her to go get tested. Her test results came back negative. A week later I got tested again and the results came back as 1.13 for HSV 2.
I have done research. Looking at forums and reading articles, I am aware of “false positives” and I’m hoping that is the case. These number seem extremely low. My Dr. Denied the western blot due to not having any open sores.
My questions are1) How do they determine the positive number of an antibody result over 1.10. Does your body have a certain number of antibodies already established? Once agin my number is now 0.03 positive. After a year of possible exposure.
2) Is there any other test I can have done to determine? The low numbers are very frustrating to me, I’d rather have a higher positive that way I know for sure I have herpes and can go about dealing with it. But the false hope of not having it is tearing me apart. I just want a definite answer if possible.
Thank you
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I’m not clear what you mean about the positive number on the antibody test. Your blood sample is run on a machine and it is compared to a known positive and a known negative sample. The number or the index value is determined by how close or far away the result is compared to the control positive or control negative. You stated that your number is now 0.03 positive but when I read what you wrote above that it says that your result is 1.13. So I’m thinking that you’re saying that your value is 0.03 above 1.0 is that correct? None of that really makes too much difference. The point is that your positive is a very low positive. As I read your post you’ve had two sex partners with whom you have not used condoms in the past. You do not have a high risk of having HSV-2 infection. The test that you need to clarify your situation is called herpes Western blot. Your doctor is confused about how this test should be used but I can help you understand it more fully. The Western blot looks for many proteins associated with HSV-2 antibody, rather than just a single protein that the screening test looks for. You have waited enough time from your last sexual experience to get the herpes Western blot test done. There are two ways to get this test done. The first is to contact the University of Washington lab and ask them to send you a test kit. You would then have your own doctor draw the blood spin it down and return the sample to the University of Washington. The second way would be to contact our clinic, become a phone patient of ours, and we can order the blood drawn at a Quest laboratory near where you live. What state do you live in, by the way?
Statistically there is an 85% chance that your test is a false positive. I think it would be a good idea to get the Western blot test done as soon as possible. You do not need to have any sores present for western blot blood antibody test to be done. Your doctor is in error there.
You have two more questions that you can ask me. Please don’t hesitate to do so.
Terri -
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No, a bacterial or fungal infectious would not impact the test. Some people do just have a low value. No way to know without the western blot, unfortunately.
Terri
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