- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 weeks, 6 days ago by .
-
Posts
-
-
54 yr old white male
Had protected sex with female sex worker 11 weeks ago. Took a week of antibiotics directly after and felt great and had no symptoms but to be safe took lab Corp 10 panel test at 4 weeks. All good but hsv 1 no surprise and hsv2 big surprise.
Hsv1 type spec 30.80
Hsv 2 type spec positive 1.15
Supplemental test normal/negative
Took the inhibition igg confirmation test at 5 weeks negative.
Even though labcorp claims 96% accurate 4-6 weeks I went back at 8 weeks and took another hsv2 test to make sure.
Hsv2 type spec equivocal 1.04
Supplemental normal/negative
Took the confirmation type spec immunoblot a week later and it came back positive. I was devastated. But as I read the notation at the bottom of the results saying that due to possible false positives labcorp was discontinuing test 2/20 per CDC guidelines I was furious.
Thankfully I found your site and read hundreds of the questions and answers. Finding my situation of low positive and equivocal test outcomes was not uncommon.
But the last 7 weeks has been the most stressful depressing sleepless anxiety ridden time of my life. Despite that I’ve had no outbreaks sores/blisters and like I said earlier the first 4 weeks after my mistake I felt fine.
I have had some sporadic tingling in my left testicle that has a varicocele along with some kind of pin a needle feelings in my legs and lower torso. But its been going on for about as long as this testing stuff. But it isn’t all day. I wake up fine with none of this going on in bed. I’m on my feet all day at work and that’s when it starts then subsides when I drive home and evenings are usually good. Not sure if this is even relevant but just want to give you all the info I can of what my situation is so you can best be able to help me. If there is more info you need please let me know. Thank you for your help!!!!!!Do you think this could be a false positive or a correct diagnosis?
-
I am very very angry that STDCheck continues to order the immunoblot to confirm a positive IgG test. The CDC is very clear about this: “The HerpeSelect HSV-2 immunoblot should not be used for
confirmation because it uses the same antigen as the HSV-2 EIA. ” and yet they continue to do it. It makes money but it does not help patients. You should not believe it – this is very likely a false positive. You need a herpes western blot, the gold standard antibody test. You can work with your own provider and the University of Washington to get this OR you can work with me. Both are solutions to your situation. Don’t you believe a single thing here until you get the blot.Terri
-
-
-
If I were you, I would copy the information from the CDC about the immunoblot: here it is.
The most commonly used test,
HerpeSelect HSV-2 enzyme immunoassay (EIA), often is
falsely positive at low index values (1.1–3.0) (457–457). One
study reported an overall specificity of 57.4%, with a specificity
of 39.8% for index values of 1.1–2.9 (458). Because of the
poor specificity of commercially available type-specific EIAs,
particularly with low index values (<3.0), a confirmatory test
(Biokit or Western blot) with a second method should be
performed before test interpretation. Use of confirmatory
testing with the Biokit or the Western blot assays have been
reported to improve accuracy of HSV-2 serologic testing (459).The HerpeSelect HSV-2 immunoblot should not be used for
confirmation because it uses the same antigen as the HSV-2
EIA.If confirmatory tests are unavailable, patients should be
counseled about the limitations of available testing before
obtaining serologic tests, and health care providers should
be aware that false-positive results occur. Immunoglobulin
M (IgM) testing for HSV-1 or HSV-2 is not useful because
IgM tests are not type-specific and might be positive during
recurrent genital or oral episodes of herpes (460). Therefore,
HSV IgM testing is not recommended.I would copy this, send it in, and ask for a refund. This is total BS that they are doing this.
With a negative supplemental and limited funds right now, I think you can forego the blot.
However, we only have about 25 cases of people who had negative supplementals who did western blots and came back negative (I don't believe we have any who came back positive). That's a small sample, but I sure hope it holdsTerri
-
You must register to ask your own question or be logged in to reply to this question.