oh my goodness, that is a long story! I can see why you are concerned.
At 1.66, there is about a 75% chance that this is a false positive. It is slightly more concerning since your HSV 1 test is negative (we see a few more false positives when the HSV 1 is positive than when it is negative). Having said that, the test may have missed an HSV 1 infection – it misses about 1 of 10 cases.
I think a western blot is definitely in order here. You can order a test kit directly from the University of Washington to be sent to you but if no one there will help you with it then that is not going to work. If you call the clinic and set up a phone consultation to become a patient of ours, we can order the test for you at a location in Chicago. Honestly, with a low positive like that, I can’t think of what else you can do. And I think you need to know your true status to deal with the possibility of infectiousness to a new partner. Has this new partner been tested to know if she has herpes?
If you are truly infected, then condoms will certainly reduce the risk of transmission, even if all you can use is lambskin. And yes, if you are truly infected, and she has had a herpes test and is not infected, then you being on daily suppressive medication will reduce the risk of infecting her, yes. But I wouldn’t advice that you start suppression without knowing if you are infected or not because the medication can impact the testing and make it less clear what is going on. Have you spoken with this new partner about your situation?
Terri