Should I get a Western Blot Test?

[veryscared]

Hello Terri,

I have some questions about whether I should get a Western Blot Test done. On September 26th, I had a complete STD panel done at an Urgent Care facility. I initially thought I was being a hypochondriac and felt like I had a sore on my lip, as well as, some tingling in both legs/butt area. An IgM HSV Type 2 test came back positive, but the IgG HerpeSelect was negative. After much frustration and tears, I finally spoke with an infectious disease doctor who told me to not worry about that result because IgM tests were frequently wrong and to get retested within a few months.

Fast forward to November 24th, I saw an ad for an online website advertising STD testing for $40.00 with insurance. I remembered needing to follow up, and got a positive IgG result with a value of 2.62.

I don’t remember having an lesions or sores, but I am a frequent brazilian waxer so sometimes I have had what I believed to be “hair bumps.” Rarely happens and when I do get them, usually able to squeeze them, get a hair out, and they go away.

I have been involved with 2 different people unprotected, both with negative tests, since May of 2015, which was my most recent negative exam.

What do you think of this result?

Should I be retested with HerpeSelect or a Western Blot test or should I just except the diagnosis?

How can we access the Western Blot test?

Do you know anything about the rapid fingerstick test? Is this as reliable as the Western Blot? If so, how do we find clinics that offer it?

I am having both people retested on Monday to see if either comes back positive.

Thanks for your help in this scary matter.

veryscared

[Terri Warren]

I absolutely think you need a western blot. At your value, there is around a 50-50 chance that you are truly infected, vs a false positive. I would actually bypass the finger stick test and go right for the test we know to be the gold standard of herpes testing.

Did you have sex partners prior to the two that are being tested? If these are your only two sex partners ever and they test negative, then that strongly suggests that you are not infected. However, if there were other partners before this then that’s useful in terms of when to get the western blot but does not eliminate previous infection.

Our clinic can order the western blot to be drawn at a Quest lab near you. You just need to call and set up a phone consultation and we’ll take care of it for you.

I understand that you are very scared and it is my hope that we can get this question resolved quickly for you with this additional test, one way or the other.

Terri

[veryscared]

Hey Terri,

Thank you for your response. How or when could I call to set up the lab draw? I would like to get it done as soon as possible. I have had previous partners, however my test from May of 2015 came back completely negative for everything. And my IgG was negative in September.

Thank you again,

stillscared

[Terri Warren]

You can call the office on Monday morning. I am out of town, but would be willing to do the phone consult on Tuesday of this week with you. I’ll write and let the office know. OK, right, I missed the IgG was negative in September. Dah. Important! So in that case, I think there is an overwhelming likelihood that you will test negative IF your partners are being honest with you and IF their antibody tests picked up infection in them (98% chance it would IF the timing for them is correct).

Terri

[veryscared]

Hey Terri,

I have a follow up question. So being a hypochondriac and wanting to get a another IgG test done before the Western Blot, I got another one on Monday. This test was positive for 3.01 level. Questions that I have:

1) Does this timeline make sense?
May 2015 – Negative IgG Herpes type 2
September 26 – positive IgM Herpes type 2 (above reference values) negative IgG
November 24 – positive IgG Herpes type 2 2.62 value
Nuvember 30 – positive IgG Herpes type 2 3.01 value

Does it make sense that if I am positive by Western Blot that I would have been exposed around the end of August, beginning of September? I have read that the IgM being positive but IgG being negative points to recent, acute infection from within a 3 to 4 week span, which makes me think late August to early September for initial exposure pending the WB results.

2) Do you think I should still get the WB considering this new higher value from ELISA testing that was done a week later?

Thanks,

veryscared

[Terri Warren]

If your western blot is positive, then I would say yes, sometime between July and October. Your index value is still in the low positive range and yes, I still think it would be good to get the western blot. You aren’t having any symptoms, correct?

Terri

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