Herpes Information, Resources, & Consultation | Westover Heights

  • Home
  • Herpes Forum
    • Get Herpes Help
    • Getting a Herpes Western Blot – Video Consult
    • The Good News About The Bad News
  • Free Resources
    • Herpes Handbook
    • Living with Herpes Video
  • Contact
  • Login
  • About Terri
  • Home
  • Herpes Forum
    • Get Herpes Help
    • Getting a Herpes Western Blot – Video Consult
    • The Good News About The Bad News
  • Free Resources
    • Herpes Handbook
    • Living with Herpes Video
  • Contact
  • Login
  • About Terri

New HSV Test Results and HSV-1

› Forums › Herpes Questions › New HSV Test Results and HSV-1

  • This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 2 months ago by Terri Warren.
Log In Register Lost Password
Viewing 1 reply thread
  • Author
    Posts
    • November 25, 2015 at 2:27 am #10761
      bstp8
      Participant

      Hi Terri,

      In October, I started dating someone new. He informed me that he had been diagnosed with HSV-2 after two positive IgG tests. The first test was late January 2015 during a routine STI screening. The results were:

      HSV IGG Type 1 <0.90
      HSV IGG Type 2 1.12

      The second test was 4 weeks later and he obtained the exact same results: HSV IGG Type 2 = 1.12. Still negative for HSV-1. He told me that he’d never had any breakouts or clear symptoms. He took Valacyclovir 500 mg for about 3 months after the second IGG test (March to June/early July), then stopped until early October when we started dating.

      After doing lots of research online and finding this forum, I realized that his results were considered to be a very low positive. Since the HSV-2 results were very low and remained the same, I thought getting a Western Blot would help clarify things. He agreed and recently received his results from the University of Washington.

      Results of the Western Blot yielded a negative for HSV-2. However, he did test positive for HSV-1. He stopped taking the Valacyclovir for 4 weeks before the test.

      I know the Western Blot is considered the “gold standard” of HSV testing so I believe we can trust these results. However, we were both surprised when the HSV-1 came back positive after he was originally negative for HSV-1 on the previous 2 tests. Is it normal for this to occur? I believe I read that IgG tests miss 1 out of 4 HSV-1 infections?

      I’m assuming his HSV-1 infection is oral and not genital but without having any outbreaks, we’ll never know. What is the prevalence of genital HSV-1?

      I recently (mid-October) went through an STI panel and was negative for both HSV-1 & 2. I’m not concerned about getting oral HSV-1 because it’s already so common. However, I’d like to avoid getting it genitally. Besides the Valacyclovir he’s taking and using condoms, how else can I best protect myself should we engage in oral or genital sex?

    • November 25, 2015 at 4:34 pm #10769
      Terri Warren
      Keymaster

      Two things:
      I would definitely believe the western blot. The screening test for HSV 1 misses one out of every four infections, when compared to western blot, so it is also possible that the screening test missed an HSV 1 infection in you. You may wish to consider getting that test of you really want to know your HSV 1 status. And no, you cannot know where his infection is without some kind of outbreak. The prevalence of HSV 1 is 56% in people 14-49 in the US.
      Condoms and daily antiviral therapy and symptom recognition are the things that you two can do to reduce the risk of transmitting HSV 1 (if indeed you do not have this already)

      Terri

  • Author
    Posts
Log In Register Lost Password
Viewing 1 reply thread

You must register to ask your own question or be logged in to reply to this question.

Welcome to the Forum!

About Our Herpes Forum

Terri Warren is here to respond to concerns and questions you have about genital herpes and your own personal situation.

For the past 30 years, genital herpes has been her special area of interest and she has conducted many, many research studies on various aspects of genital herpes.

Each interaction is a question with two follow up questions for $25.00.

Learn More About Our Herpes Forum

Get Personalized Help

Terri Warren is here to help you with your herpes concerns. Learn more about Terri

Westover Herpes Info

  • Do I have Herpes?
  • Living with Herpes Video
  • Getting a Herpes Western Blot
    & Video Consultation
  • Herpes Forum
    Terri Warren, ANP

Search Forums

Copyright © 2023 · Westover Heights Clinic · All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy

7410 SW Oleson Road PO BOX 427 Portland, OR 97223

Phone: Fax:

Website by 0101 Design