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Here is the situation. My husband and I have been married for 10 years. Recently, I have had reason to question my trust of him. I am not specifically aware of any sexual activity on his part, but just a major breech in trust. We decided to have him tested for STD’s. He assured me that he has not been with anyone else and was happy to do the test. His test was on 10/8 and the HSV 1 IGG was 1.19 and the HSV 2 IGG was 1.05. We set the test up through an online company. We do not have a doctor we are working with. We were freaking out when the online company said both were positive. Upon looking more closely the HSV 2 was actually in the equivocal range. Then I was tested on 10/28. Everything came back negative (<0.90).
We were both tested when we got married and we don’t remember if it included herpes or not. Neither of us was very active before marriage. I have only been with him during our marriage. Our last intercourse was around 10/12 (with condom our birth control method). His history and status at this point I am unsure about. I have not noticed any physical symptoms for myself. He also says he doesn’t think he has ever had any symptoms.
I read that often low numbers like his can be a false positive, but it can also mean that the exposure was recent and antibodies have not grown to a high level yet. Not sure what to think. What do you think? What next steps would you recommend? Would another IGG test be a good idea for one or both of us? Should we do this western blot test? So much hangs in the balance of our relationship. -
You are correct – this is not a positive result it is an equivocal result. He has a substantial HSV 1 response and this could “dribble” over onto the HSV 2 result. The issue of when to do further testing or if any should even be done is another matter.
I don’t want know what triggered this trust concern, but if it is related to sex with other people and you think it might be recent, then doing a confirmatory test at this point would not be helpful. Now that you have this equivocal result, I doubt that you would like to simply move on. Yes, it can be in this range because it is just dribble from HSV 1 or it could be that he has a very new infection and is just starting to develop antibody. I think the fact that he was happy to do the test is a good sign. In my experience, men who have been having sex with someone outside of their normal relationship are very nervous about being tested. Now he could be not nervous for other reasons of course – another partner told him she had been tested, for example or they used condoms and he believes that is protective against herpes (only partially).
I doubt that you were tested for herpes when you were first together – most STD screens don’t include herpes – but it is possible of course. Any way to get those records? Again in my experience, people who test in the low positive or equivocal range and are not infected, pretty much stay right around there with further testing.
It sounds like you are not convinced of his fidelity. The best route would probably be to retest in a few months and see what the value is. If it is still in the equivocal or low positive range, then get a western blot. If is now negative, I would not believe that he is infected with herpes. The waiting might be a challenge. And I would say if your heart says to have sex with him, then do it, with condoms as always.
Let me know if you have further questions, OK? You have two more.
Terri
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I would likely rely on the most recent result. If he had new infection, the numbers would likely rise, not go down. I think he is likely negative for both. Not so sure about your trust issues, but I would not worry so much about herpes since your newest antibody test for him is negative for both, do you agree?
Terri
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Well, first, we don’t know that he has herpes at all, do we? Next, if he has HSV 1, he could have acquired it as a child. The test you are using misses 1-2 out of 10 infections, so it also could have missed it when you tested before you got married. Or the test before you got married may not have included herpes test, most often STD screens do not include herpes. Maybe he should get a herpes western blot to be really certain and also you should.
In my mind, whatever trust issues you are having may indeed be separate from this herpes issue. I don’t think you’ve got anything conclusive here about herpes to base anything upon. Really.
If he is infected, yes, he could have sex with you for years and no infect you. Am I missed where you describe for me your test results?
Terri
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No, none of those would mess up the test results.
We are taking a new strategy with ordering the western blot for folks at our clinic. Quest has asked that our clients now pay us directly at the time we order the blot as they have had too many issues with people not paying, bills being returned, etc. So the price for the phone consultation (a 10 minute phone appointment) and western blot test combined is $250 per test. I know this is expensive but it is actually cheaper this way than it was before. We have just combined the test and the consultation into one fee.You just need to call the clinic to set up a 10 minute phone appointment.
Terri
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