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About 4 months ago I was randomly tested by my OB/GYN for herpes. The test came back positive for HSV-1 and HSV-2 but with a level .01 higher than the upper limit of normal. So, we figured it was a false positive. Then, 2 months ago I had a genital outbreak. I took another blood test and it came back negative for HSV-2 and positive for HSV-1. My question is whether I should get another test just to be sure it’s only HSV-1 (genitally) and not 1 and 2. Does it really matter? Should I get the standard test again or a western blot? Also, I’ve never had an oral herpes outbreak.
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Hi, we figure it out! Sorry for the small delay
A few questions for you: when you had the genital outbreak, did you have it swab tested to determine that it was actually herpes? And if you did have it swab tested, was it typed? What was the outbreak like?
So you are pretty clear that you’ve never had a cold sore on your lip or in your nose?
Have you been the receiver of oral sex in your lifetime?
When you say that your value was .01 over the upper limit of normal, you mean over the cutoff for negative? Can you post for me your actually lab values? And can I assume that these were IgG values, not IgM?
If you do have HSV 1, then another genital outbreak is unlikely to occur soon. It is ironic that you would have a genital outbreak 2 months after that that was herpes.
When was your last sexual contact with anyone? How long after the first antibody test did you do the second one?
Sorry for so many questions, I just want to be certain that we are covering all the bases.Terri
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So then all of this does seem consistent with new genital HSV 1 infection. The negative (.01 over the cutoff is basically negative), then the lesion that was positive followed by a strongly positive HSV 1 antibody test suggests seroconversion during that time period. Just for my own information: The IgM in January that was positive. When was that in relationship to anything? You mentioned that you did a random test for herpes. I’m thinking it was not in relationship to the outbreak which you described was culture positive but untyped. When was the outbreak again?
The IgM tests are so difficult because they really freak people out when they are positive, even if the situation doesn’t fit with new infection. To me, for you, it sounds like the positive IgM, negative IgG tests were done not in relationship to the outbreak at all. One more question: did the person who gave you oral sex have an oral outbreak at the time?
Here is how I”m reading your timeline:
January: random testing. IgM positive, IgG negative for both
some other time: received oral sex, culture positive for HSV 1
July: positive IgG for HSV 1 at 15.Is all of that correct?
I do not think you need to do any further testing at all. In the future, it will likely NOT be a risk to a partner who has a cold sore history to have intercourse as this person already has HSV 1 and is very unlikely to get it at a new location. You should also have few recurrences, if any, statistically. Be sure, when speaking about this, that partners in the future know the difference between a cold sore and a canker sore- canker sores are not caused by herpes but people often get them mixed up.
I hope this has been helpful for you.
Terri
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Yes, it is possible to pass the HSV 1 on to a person who does not already have HSV 1. But if someone has HSV 1 orally already, or is not symptomatic but has HSV 1 antibody (they are infected), they will not get a new infection from you.
The lesion on your nipple was, unfortunately, probably herpes as well since the person who gave you oral sex also put his mouth on your nipple. That one may recur, difficult to say, but the nipple is NOT infectious without some kind of symptoms. With the genital infection, it is possible to transmit it without any symptoms to an uninfected person.
Terri
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