Low Positive HSV-2 Test

[heathwarrior]

Hi Terri,

I (23F) recently went in to my OB for an annual exam and requested and STD screen which included HSV1 and HSV2 IGG testing. Everything came back negative including HSV1. The only thing that came back positive was HSV2 with a 3.30 index value. I have several other health conditions including Croan’s and Systemic Mastocytosis. My immune system is generally very suppressed (immunosuppressants and steroids) and I am very susceptible to all viral infections and bacterial infections (many sinus, cold, flu, staph infections per year). My most recent sexual encounter was 1 year ago (unprotected, unknown HSV2 status) and another 8 years ago (unprotected, unknown HSV2 status). My doctor talked to me and believed that based on my background and with my other disorders that it is very very unlikely that this is a true positive result because I have never had an outbreak despite my body undergoing serious stress (chronic health conditions and surgeries, ect.). She told me I should probably regard this as a false positive, not worry about it, and we can retest the IGG levels in a couple weeks to see if they are the same/different if I wanted. She also mentioned that she believed that my history of having the chickenpox, shingles, and mono may have interacted with the antibody levels. I would like to know your thoughts on this and what your recommendations would be?

Thank you so much!

[Terri Warren]

If you’ve not had sex in a year, why would retesting in a few weeks make any sense at all?
The CDC says you need a confirmatory test and I agree. If a false positive, and it surely could be, it’s a high false positive. My recommendation, without any reservations, would be to do the blot and find out your true status.

Terri

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